Health - Patient Protection Foundation: Doctors' strike incomprehensible
The Chairman of the German Patient Protection Foundation, Eugen Brysch, has no sympathy for the strike announced by doctors in private practice after Christmas. "Even the German train drivers' union refrains from striking between Christmas and the beginning of the new year. It is therefore incomprehensible that there are calls for practice closures at a time when many people are ill," he told the Rheinische Post newspaper. The action would mainly affect the elderly and the weak.
In protest against health policy, the Virchow Association of General Practitioners plans to close thousands of practices between December 27 and 29. Deputies are to be appointed for urgent emergencies.
Criticism of Lauterbach
Brysch is also critical of the behavior of Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD). "Apart from publicly effective incomprehension, the Federal Minister of Health is showing no initiative to stop the wild measures," he said. It was necessary to remind the associations of statutory health insurance physicians of their duty to ensure safety.
Janine Wissler, leader of the Left Party, also criticized Lauterbach. "Health Minister Lauterbach's call to GPs to "not abandon" their patients between the years is outrageous and seems like a mockery in view of his two years of failures in the health sector," Wissler told the newspaper. Lauterbach should take the demands of doctors and all employees in the healthcare sector seriously.
Lauterbach had commented on the planned strike on the RBB radio station on Thursday. "The demands of the medical profession are known, they do not need to be presented again, so there is no need to strike now, especially when so many people are ill," he said. The minister had previously announced a crisis summit for January.
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Source: www.stern.de
