Health - Patient advocates: bottlenecks in on-call service
The German Patient Protection Foundation has complained about bottlenecks in the on-call medical service and called on Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) and his counterparts in the federal states to take action.
At night and at weekends, the on-call service is almost impossible to reach, CEO Eugen Brysch told the German Press Agency. "As a result, the situation for sick people at home, especially in rural areas, is getting worse and worse. The nationwide overloading of rescue services and emergency rooms in hospitals is becoming apparent," he added.
The background to this is a ruling by the Federal Social Court in Kassel in October. It had ruled that a dentist who had taken over emergency services as a so-called pool doctor in an emergency service center provided by the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Dentists could not be paid like a self-employed person, but must also be covered by social insurance. There are now restrictions on on-call services in various federal states, such as the opening hours of on-call practices, because cooperation with pool doctors is being discontinued.
Depending on the federal state, up to half of the on-call doctors are affected, said Brysch. Lauterbach and the health ministers of the federal states must act immediately. "It's important to take the supervision of the Kassenärztliche Vereinigungen seriously for the benefit of the sick. The statutory mandate of the statutory health insurance physicians must be urgently restored." Registered panel doctors are obliged to take part in the on-call service.
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- In response to the bottlenecks in the on-call medical service, doctors' associations in Berlin and Baden-Württemberg are urging Politicians to address the issue, including Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach from the SPD.
- The German Press Agency reported that patient protection advocates criticized recent judgments by the Federal Social Court in Kassel, which have resulted in restrictions on on-call services in various federal states, affecting up to half of the on-call doctors.
- Health Ministers in different states, including Berlin and Baden-Württemberg, are being called upon to address the bottlenecks in patient care, especially on weekends and at night, to improve patient protection and reduce the overloading of emergency rooms.
- Kassel's Federal Social Court's ruling that pool doctors must be covered by social insurance, instead of being self-employed, has caused criticism from patient advocates and health organizations, who believe that it is exacerbating the on-call doctor bottleneck problem.
- The German Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians has expressed concern over the effects of the ruling on the on-call service, stating that registered panel doctors are obliged to take part in the service and that supervision of Kassenärztliche Vereinigungen must be taken seriously for the benefit of patients.
- While political debates regarding the on-call service bottlenecks are ongoing, weekend media outlets, such as the German Press Agency, are closely monitoring the developments and reporting on the impact of recent court rulings on patient protection in cities like Berlin and across Germany.
Source: www.stern.de
