Fifteen of the Netherlands’ 100 or so hospitals have serious financial problems and two are on the verge of bankruptcy, the Telegraaf said on Wednesday.

The figures come from a special hospital guarantee fund which says it has 15 institutions on its watch list and two flagged as ‘alarming’. The fund provides loans to hospitals and other healthcare groups.

‘We would not be surprised if we heard that the plug has been pulled on them,’ director Herman Bellers told the paper, but declined to name names.

On Tuesday, Dutch accountancy group BDO said one in four Dutch hospitals are in financial difficulties. The company bases its claim on ‘stress tests’ carried out on the information in 66 hospital financial reports.

The Financieele Dagblad says the claim is particularly worrying because the new government wants to cut spending on front-line healthcare such as hospitals, district nurses and mental health services by a structural €1.9bn.

The money raised by cutting these services will go on prevention and boosting e-health initiatives.