Long wait times in emergency rooms. Too few ambulances available. There are repeated reports of the overloading of the health system. A doctor explains on Twitter why the overload is not only related to the lack of staff.
The healthcare systems are confronted with a multitude of challenges – the consequences are not only evident in Germany: In England and Canada, catastrophic conditions prevail in the emergency rooms. According to the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, more than 1,000 people wait longer than 12 hours in emergency rooms in England every day. Two patients died in the parking lot of the Royal London Hospital in 2021 because of hours of waiting.
According to “CBC” reports, hospitals in Canada are also struggling with long waiting times in the emergency rooms. What is the current status of the German emergency rooms? A doctor from an emergency room in Lower Saxony reports on Twitter about the conditions in German hospitals.
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Alex Ilisch, deputy medical director of the Agaplesion Diakonieklinikum Rotenburg/Wümme, writes on Twitter that the emergency rooms in Germany are also overloaded: “It is reported that patients in this country also have to wait for hours, that ambulances have to drive to more distant houses because the nearest clinic is cancelled. Is it really like that? Or is it a subjective feeling? It’s really like that! ”Writes the doctor on Twitter. Local differences are still crucial in Germany, according to Ilisch on Twitter.
For the doctor, several factors are responsible for this: On the one hand, there would be more old and sick people due to demographic change and at the same time there would be too few staff. The departure of nursing staff is also worsening the condition of German hospitals.
Due to the lack of staff, inpatient beds would be reduced, so that there would often be a freeze on admissions, according to the doctor. Ultimately, this leads to the existing staff being overburdened, according to Ilisch. The lack of information about what counts as an emergency also leads to overload, writes the doctor.
The doctor sees another reason in outpatient care: There is “not enough specialist medical care in the outpatient area. As a result, many patients come to the emergency room for ‘clarification’, since the next outpatient FA appointment is only available in 3 months. The appointment service point doesn’t help either,” says Ilisch. However, general practitioners could hardly intercept the patients: “They are also overburdened and are paid too little in relation to the effort they put in. KV is withdrawing from its responsibility,” says Ilisch.
Economic factors would also worsen the situation: “The economic pressure on the hospitals leads to savings in the sector of personnel and investments. Again, lack of staff, overload and
Regarding the long waiting times for ambulances, the doctor writes: “The ambulance service is “obligated” to transport the patient, otherwise they will not receive any remuneration… I know that it is not entirely correct, but it is a common argument”. In general, the remuneration is inappropriate in relation to the effort involved in outpatients, according to Ilisch.
The Berlin fire brigade also recently reported catastrophic conditions: In some cases there was only one ambulance for the whole of Berlin, a fire brigade spokesman told “t-online”. Fire chief Carolin Kals told the portal: “The state of emergency is now only called to us at the station “General condition. Morale is correspondingly poor and sick leave is high. In some cases, the state of emergency is declared two to three times a day.”
Reason for the frequent state of emergency: The number of emergency calls and operations has increased drastically. In addition to the aging of society and the lack of staff, there is another reason: Many people would call an ambulance without there being an emergency, according to the Berlin State Fire Director Dr. Karsten Homrighausen on “t-online”. This puts a considerable strain on emergency medicine. According to Homrighausen, society must be made more aware of what counts as an emergency.
