Psychiatry More places for children and adolescents

Help for children and adolescents in Baden-Württemberg will be expanded

02/01/2014

The psychiatric help offer for children and adolescents in Baden-Wuerttemberg should be extended according to release of the social minister Katrin Altpeter (SPD) in the future clearly. „Almost 100 additional places in clinics and day hospitals“ are created, so the message of the Ministry for work and social order, family, women and seniors in Baden-Wuerttemberg.

Social Affairs Minister Katrin Altpeter emphasized that more and more children and adolescents are suffering from a mental illness and should be ensured with the expansion of the aid offer, „that they receive the necessary therapy without too long waiting times.“ The psychiatric help for children and adolescents in Baden-Württemberg will significantly improve with the expansion of currently 835 beds and places (in clinics and day clinics) to 930 beds and places. Set the country „sufficient funds are available to support investments for the additional 85 semi-stationary places in day clinics and 10 full-time places in clinics.“

Low capacities lead to treatment problems
Contrary to the estimation of the health insurance funds and Ersatzkassen, which considered the current inpatient and day hospital supply network sufficient, has a commissioned by the Ministry of Social Affairs in 2012 „Evaluation of the provision of care in child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy“ detected, „that the majority of the surveyed hospitals have too little capacity in the outpatient area or with the practicing physicians as a problem in the treatment chain“ considered. As a result, long waiting times for an outpatient treatment center and capacity bottlenecks in the partially and fully inpatient care were described. For this reason, the Minister of Social Affairs has decided to expand the supply by almost 100 additional places and beds. (Fp)

Image: Annamartha