Regulation and criminal law enforcement in healthcare: an uneasy alliance or partners in crime?

This paper reports on research on the collaboration between the regulator and criminal law enforcement in the healthcare sector. Based on observations of consultations between the regulator and criminal law enforcement in The Netherlands, two underlying factors are distinguished that create challenges in this collaboration: practical issues and ideological differences. The divergent ideologies and values between regulation and criminal law enforcement hinder an integrated approach to incidents in healthcare. We argue that articulating and valuing these ideological differences would create an opportunity for mutual disciplinary enrichment. An interdisciplinary approach to incidents in healthcare could mitigate the inherent biases of both actors and thus provide otherwise unseen opportunities to prevent similar future incidents. By doing so, the regulator and criminal law enforcement could work towards a form of collaboration regarding incidents in healthcare that does justice to the interests of both the patients, the healthcare sector and society.