Health
“Constantly at the limit” – pediatricians sound the alarm
According to experts, the situation at many children’s hospitals is critical: a shortage of doctors, a shortage of skilled workers, a lack of money and the reduction in beds are putting the facilities under increasing pressure. Photo
© Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa
Leading pediatricians are sounding the alarm: German children’s hospitals are overloaded all year round, not just in winter. An expert explains a possible solution.
In view of the situation at German children’s hospitals, leading pediatricians suggest Alarm. “The system is now at its limit all year round, not just during the waves of infection in winter,” said Florian Hoffmann, the newly elected president of the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (Divi), to the “Stern” newspaper. “The wards are often overcrowded.” All children’s hospitals are overloaded, said Hoffmann, who is himself a pediatric intensive care doctor at the LMU Munich.
At the same time, Hoffmann criticized the federal government. “The children are the losers,” he said about the draft of the new hospital reform, which was just approved by the federal cabinet. “I had hoped that the protection of children would be given top priority with the new reform.”
Jörg Dötsch, Vice President of the German Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine (DGKJ), called for financial incentives “so that nursing staff can now return to work after retirement or a career break and part-time workers can increase their hours”.