Nationwide care emergency in hospitals criticism of patient advocates

Patient advocates criticize nursing emergency in hospitals
In Germany there is a clear mismatch between doctors and nurses in hospitals. While the number of sisters and nurses has declined sharply in recent years, the number of doctors has increased enormously. Patient advocates criticize the situation.

Less nurses - more doctors
According to unions and clinic operators, the German Foundation for Patient Protection now criticizes the lack of nurses in the hospitals, the news agency dpa reports. At the weekend, the patient advocates presented new figures on the development of employees in the federal states. According to statistics, the number of hospital treatments increased by a quarter in the years 1991 to 2013 to 19 million a year, while the number of nurses fell by three percent to 316,000. However, the number of physicians has increased by more than half to 147,000 during this period.

Picture: drubig-photo

Nationwide disproportion
The mismatch between doctors and nurses in hospitals exists nationwide. According to the information Berlin is 34.52 percent by far at the top of the dismantled foster care, followed by Saxony-Anhalt with 13.79 percent and Bremen with 12.50 percent. However, some federal states increased against the general trend among the nurses: for example, Rhineland-Palatinate by 15.44 percent and Bavaria by 9.07 percent. Chairman of the Foundation, Eugen Brysch, demanded: "Saving at the expense of the nurses must come to an end."

Length of stay in clinics halved
Brysch also reported that the length of stay in hospitals has halved over the past 20 years. The number of old and dependent people on the wards who need more care, but at the same time has increased. "This means: acute care is limited to crisis management. That's why care in hospitals is hopelessly overwhelmed, if nothing changes. "The expert criticized a concept" after which doctors bring money and care costs money ". The Foundation Board called for a Germany-wide binding personnel key to stop the development. "At least the rules would be the same for everyone."

"Care on the ground"
Numerous organizations have pointed out the abuses in the German health system in recent years and have criticized the care crisis. The situation does not seem to improve. Strikes are currently taking place at the Berlin Charité and other clinics as well as Verdi union protest chains in many places. Last year, a nationwide flash mob caused quite a stir. In around 80 German cities, the participants took to the action in public places for ten minutes on the floor. Significantly, the flash mob took place under the motto "grooming on the ground".