The hospital sector is not only confronted with the challenges of technical and digital medicine (AI), but also with the expectations of increasingly more talkative patients and their relatives. Luc Van Bauwel introduces you to and testifies about the way in which the ombudsman service of an important hospital group in Antwerp evolved from mere complaint handling as an ombudsservice on the basis of principles of mediation to anchoring the ideas in the liars of management, doctors and other employees; he gives an overview of how the professional ombudsman organized his self and how the surrounding other stakeholders perceived this relatively new ‘ombudsman’ service, which was established by law; how patients have experienced this form of conflict management in the past 15 years, which has been monitored inside the care institution twice in the last 15 years; in the end, he testifies how the acquired/gained trust has grown, as a result of which he now participates on board level in an active role from the very beginning of developing and implementing changes, in the ever-present processes of change, in particular aimed at the doctors associated with the organization.

The Family Justice Centers are an international model where victims of domestic violence and child abuse can find all help needed under one roof. The FJCs are a collaboration of police, justice, welfare, help centers and authorities. The main target is empowering survivors of violence.
The development of the FJC-model is situated in an evolution of the approach of these forms of violence, starting with the recognition of violence against women and child abuse towards a multidisciplinary and collaborative model starting from the needs of survivors of violence. The FJC-model is explained from a field worker point of view and further developments and expected evolutions are mentioned.

Care providers establish often long term relationships with their clients. It is of paramount importance that the threshold for a complaint or dispute resolution is preferably low. Ideally this is not a ‘mini-trial’ in which care provider and client are opposed against each other, but a constructive dialogue at a round table guided by a skillful complaints officer. This is what has been introduced by the Healthcare Quality, Complaints and Disputes Act (the Wkkgz).
The new complaint system introduced with the Wkkgz applies to care covered by the Chronic Care Act (WLZ), the Healthcare Insurance Act (ZVW) and optionally can also apply to care based on the Social Support Act (WMO 2015).
In my opinion it is a missed opportunity that the legislator has not introduced a similar complaint procedure in the Youth Act, but instead has chosen the ‘mini-trial’ option here. Moreover, it is also confusing for care providers and clients to follow different complaints systems next to each other.
Finally, in psychiatric care where decisions of care providers can interfere with the right to self-determination there is a separate complaint procedure with a role for the Family Court. For all other run-of-the mill issues also in the psychiatric care the Wkkgz complaint procedure applies.

In this interview with prominent representatives of the British Acas and the Belgian Social Mediators Service important developments in the ADR labour practice are discussed. In particular, the impact of the financial crisis and the ever advancing globalization process on the labour negotiating climate is the centre of attention.

In this article the focus is on conflicts in the legal protection of incapable adults. First a short explanation is given of protection measurements in Dutch family law. Second is discussed in which cases judges appoint or should appoint professional guardians instead of a member of the family of the incapable adult. The central issue in this article is the role of the guardian as an ‘arbiter’ in conflicts. According to his task he cannot be independent, because his primary task is to care for the interests of the incapable person. This may bring him in conflict with other parties involved. Particularly the fact that the guardian himself can be a party in a conflict makes his position and role special. Therefore, some methods of possible strategic interaction from the perspective of the guardian are discussed.

Research shows that many companies are unfamiliar with Effective Dispute Resolution (EDR) methods. Increasingly however managers wish to effectively solve disputes. This has resulted in the development of a simple tool for managers. Our conflict resolution chart is based on a literature study of factors proven to play a role in the choice for a particular dispute resolution method. The conflict resolution chart was refined based on the answers of ten managers to a questionnaire about the developed tool. The manager can use the chart as a first indicator of what course of actions with regard to the conflict he has to take.

If a patient is not satisfied with any aspects of health care, he or she can file a complaint. In the Netherlands, as in other countries, there are several ways for handling patients’ complaints. One of the possibilities is to lodge a complaint with the medical disciplinary board. In 1997, the Individual Health Care Professions Act came into force. The main goals of this Act are to promote the quality of professional practice and to protect patients against unprofessional health care professionals.In 2008 research was undertaken into the experiences of patients (or others acting on behalf of them) with the disciplinary procedure. A sample of both complainants and practitioners against whom a complaint was lodged were interviewed about their expectations and experiences. The main conclusion is that for several reasons both parties are dissatisfied with the current procedure. This paper provides an overview of the outcome of the interviews. In addition, some concrete proposals are made regarding the improvement of the current disciplinary procedure.

In een redactioneel artikel geeft de redactie een toelichting op het tijdschriftnummer in kwestie.