This will change from 1 March: Wage increase for civil servants and reference doctors dementia will start

Government personnel gets more wages

The wages of government employees go up by 2 percent on 1 March. They are indexed because the pivot index was exceeded in January.

The Spilindex is a measure of life becoming more expensive. Every time it is exceeded, a month later the social benefits go up by 2 percent, and a month later the betting of government employees.

The wages of other employees are also linked to the Spilindex. According to the trade unions, wages also rise by 2 percent in eight joint committees on 1 March. In addition, PC 304 for the entertainment company (the performing arts), PC 307 for brokerage and insurance agencies and PC 322.01 (service checks) are among others.

The Planning Bureau expects the Spilindex will be exceeded again in August.

Reference doctors dementia will start

On March 1, the first reference doctors dementia will start working in Flanders. They are experts who can support and advise fellow doctors.

In Flanders and Brussels there are currently around 150,000 people with dementia. It is expected that that number will double by the aging of the population by 2070. That means that doctors will have to deal with patients with dementia much more often and the challenges that the diagnosis entails.

To support the doctors, there are reference doctors dementia. These are doctors who have followed specialized training to, for example, recognize or confirm early signals of dementia, and to follow the complex care needs. The reference doctors can support general practitioners who have questions about patients with dementia and they can be a point of contact for local policy structures and care facilities, such as residential care centers.

Read too. Neurologist about the most important cause of death in our country: « Dementia is not just a matter of aging and being out of luck »

The training for reference doctor Dementia was developed by the Dementia Vlaanderen Expertise Center, GP association Domus Medica and experts from the professional field.

“Despite the often destructive diagnosis of dementia, it is still worthwhile to continue, to look at what is still possible. There is still a lot of life with and alongside dementia, « says Joke Pauwelyn, project manager at the Dementia Vlaanderen Expertise Center. « The reference doctor dementia therefore offers a helpline for the doctors' network to assist patients with dementia and their loved ones as well as possible. »