“Not for children’s pimples” – emergency fee for parents required
The emergency rooms in Germany are under pressure. Too few staff, too many cases. Now the president of the professional association of paediatricians is proposing that parents pay for unnecessary visits with their children.
AIn view of the scarce resources in emergency care, the President of the Professional Association of Paediatricians (BVKJ), Thomas Fischbach, calls for a personal contribution for parents in certain cases. “Emergency care must be focused on emergencies and not for the pimples on the children’s buttocks, for which the parents have no time during the week and with which you then turn up at the emergency service at the weekend,” said Fischbach of the “New Osnabrück newspaper“. “In such cases, I think it would make perfect sense for the insured to pay their own contribution.”
The scarce resources are repeatedly being used by cases that do not urgently require action. He added: “In real emergencies, the costs can be reimbursed, which could be implemented with little effort.” It is a pity that politicians do not dare to approach the topic for fear of headwinds.
Fischbach also criticized the government commission’s plans to reform emergency care. “So far it sounds too much like: Come to us, all of you who are laborious and burdened, we will help you!” It would also be fatal if “only specialists and not also doctors with sufficient training were allowed to take on emergency care”. Then “even more workers would be lost”. Clearer rules for patient control are needed so that “non-urgent cases are really referred to the practices instead of being allowed to go to the emergency centers”.