Gröhe wants to spend more money on care

Gröhe wants to spend more money on care

03/02/2014

In German clinics there is now a "chronic lack of care" due to the massive job cuts in recent years. This not only leads to an overload of employees, but it also increasingly becomes a risk to patients.

But the problems are home-made: since 1996, 50,000 full-time jobs have been lost in German clinics, despite the increasing work density and the continuously increasing number of patients. That's 14 percent, or in other words, every seventh place.

Because of the high workload errors in drug administration, dressing change and hygiene can not be ruled out, so a conclusion of when it comes to the evaluation of nursing work. In the past, the monitoring of confused patients, feeding, mobilization or proper storage, as well as the care of critically ill patients, have repeatedly resulted in serious deficiencies. For their assessments, the institute regularly interviews nurses in the hospitals.

Health insurance companies should pay more for care
The Federal Health Minister, Hermann Gröhe, wants to change that now and strengthen the quality of care in the hospitals, as in the issue of February 2, in the weekly newspaper „World on Sunday“ said. In order for hospitals to be able to raise more money for nursing staff in the future, the health insurance companies should be asked to pay more.

Among other things, this is a point that the SPD and Union had agreed in the coalition agreement. Specifically, it states that the acquisition of additional skilled workers as well as the easing of the case flat rate system, according to which personnel costs in the care sector are to be weighted differently in the case of the case lump sums, have the highest priority. Currently, the clinics are paid per case after a fixed lump sum. It does not matter how time-consuming a treatment really is. The Ministry of Health already has with the Federal Ministry of Finance, said Grohe against the „World on Sunday. The Federal Minister of Health knows that good quality in hospitals depends on sufficient staff.

This is also confirmed by the President of the German Hospital Association (DKG), Alfred Dänzer, who is also concerned about the lack of staff in the clinics. „Our personnel costs increase each year by three percent, but the funds give us only two percent, "said Dänzer the weekly

The German hospitals are missing three billion a year
The German hospital company has calculated that the hospitals in the Federal Republic annually missing about three billion euros for modernization, which is a reason for criticism Gröhe. Staff must be dismantled to finance other operating costs, said the Minister of Health. To what extent the health insurance companies are already giving up more money for care, remains to be seen. (Fr)