Cathelijne Ziedses des Plantes

I am a physician (radiologist) with a strong passion to improve patient care. Because I prefer to help as many patients as possible with better and sustainable care at the same time, I have decided not to work full-time as a doctor.

I gained experience in the organisation of care outside the hospital through working as a medical adviser at the Care Needs Assessment Centre (CIZ) and subsequently as a medical adviser on strategy and innovation at the largest medical healthcare insurer in the Netherlands (Zilveren Kruis). In this role, I and colleagues in the field, initiated research with an impact on healthcare. For example, I participated in a study into incontinence in patients who had undergone prostate cancer surgery in the Netherlands. Through collaboration with urologists, this research was used to increase the number of prostate surgeries per hospital. This used to be (at least) 20 operations per year. That has been (at least) 100 operations per year since 2019. As a result, there will be far fewer patients who will be incontinent for a long time after their operation.

Of course, much more needs to be done to increase patients' access to optimal diagnostics and the most appropriate care. That is why I have been working at the international health company Janssen (known for its vaccines, among other things) since last year. From this position I hope to make life sciences sector co-responsible for the steps that must be taken to optimise this care. Not only in the Netherlands and not just for prostate cancer, but for every patient worldwide.