Minister Gröhe wants to reduce hospital beds

Federal Health Minister Hermann Gröhe plans to restructure hospitals

04/10/2014

Will there be fewer beds in hospitals soon? If it goes to Federal Health Minister Hermann Gröhe, the hospital beds in this country will be reduced in the future. The background was the decline in occupancy, which according to the current hospital statistics in 2012 had been only 77.4%.

Bed occupancy in clinics continues to decline year by year
As the current hospital statistics of the German Hospital Association (DKG) shows, the bed occupancy in local hospitals continues to decline. While it was 81.9% in 2000, only 77.4% was reached in 2012 - out of a total of more than 500,000 beds, more than 110,000 were vacant on average during the year. According to the news agency „Reuters“ This is reason enough for Federal Health Minister Hermann Gröhe to think about a restructuring: „We must therefore ask ourselves if we really need this high number of beds to fulfill the securing order“, said Gröhe at a reception of the German Hospital Association (DKG) in Berlin. Alternatively, however, depending on the region, the conversion of individual hospital areas could make more sense, the Minister continued. In addition to reducing the number of beds, it is also planned to pay hospitals in the future depending on the services provided, thus ensuring more quality overall.

Significant increase in medical intervention requires clarification
In this context, the planned federal-state working group on this topic would have to review the entire structures - because the significant increase in medical interventions, for example, could be explained not only by the current changes in the age structure of the population and medical development, the minister emphasized continue. According to current hospital statistics, the number of outpatient operations in the hospital has risen from more than 575,000 in 2002 to almost 1.9 million interventions in the last ten years.

Positive feedback from the Barmer GEK
„An exclusive increase in funds will not benefit hospitals in the long run“, so Gröhe, because this way is also in terms of the contributors no meaningful solution.
The minister's proposal was then approved by Barmer GEK: „We expressly welcome the fact that the Minister of Health wants to tackle the urgently needed structural change in the German hospital landscape, "said CEO Christoph Straub, according to which the dismantling of unused hospital beds is going in the right direction and the quality of inpatient care should generally be the focus in the future the hospital planning stand.

Renewed political discussion required
In order to implement this, however, the chairman of the board is again in need of a renewed political discussion on an investment fund to finance necessary structural reforms in the inpatient sector: „There must be more networking in inpatient and outpatient services, especially in basic and standard care hospitals. "(Nr)