Start of the doctors' strike: thousands of medical practices closed between the years

Start of the doctors' strike: thousands of medical practices closed between the years

The Virchowbund, which represents GPs and specialists in private practice, and 23 other professional associations had called on practices to strike between Christmas and New Year. However, the medical on-call service under the number 116 117 will remain in place.

Strikes took place on Wednesday in cities including Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg and Bremen, but also in smaller towns and in the countryside. As the protest will be followed by the weekend and New Year's Day, surgeries are not expected to reopen until January 2.

"We are giving our medical assistants time off during this period - as a thank you for their hard work and as compensation because they have not received a state corona bonus to date," says the appeal for the "Practice in Need" campaign. Medicine is being "cut to the bone" and doctors' surgeries are being "bled dry", the professional associations accuse politicians.

Virchowbund chairman Heinrich said on Wednesday on ZDF's "Morgenmagazin" that the strikes were necessary after Minister Lauterbach had not responded to previous protest measures. Doctors had already protested against the government's healthcare policy by closing their practices on the bridge day on October 3.

Heinrich pointed out that the situation in surgeries was continuing to deteriorate. Services had to be cut, there were long waiting times and in many places there was already a freeze on new patient admissions. Now, at the end of the year, the practices are "completely out of money". Announcements are not enough, "action must follow", demanded Heinrich.

A crisis summit is to be held at the Federal Ministry of Health in January. Heinrich said that he had received Lauterbach's invitation "very shortly before Christmas", after the associations had announced the protest actions. "Now the minister is reacting, it seems that pressure is the only way," said the chairman of the Virchowbund.

Lauterbach had criticized the practice closures before Christmas. He said to RBB that he understood the protests, but not the fact that there would be strikes over the holidays. The minister pointed out that one in ten people were currently ill and that people needed care. "The demands of the medical profession are well known and do not need to be repeated," Lauterbach said.

Criticism also came from the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds (GKV). "If the medical profession has fallen out with healthcare policy, then it is hardly the right way to simply close surgeries on the bridging days," explained Florian Lanz, spokesperson for the umbrella association, on Wednesday. "The patients are the least responsible for this." Lanz also pointed out that there are currently "peak values for respiratory diseases" in Germany.

Eugen Brysch, Chairman of the Patient Protection Foundation, told AFP: "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 between the years." The people who suffer most are the elderly and the weak, and rural areas in particular are affected.

Brysch accused Lauterbach of showing "no initiative to stop the measures". The minister must "remind the associations of statutory health insurance physicians of their duty to ensure the provision of care"

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1. The doctors' strike, initiated by the Virchowbund and others, urged practices to close between Christmas and New Year.
2. Strikes took place in various cities, such as Frankfurt on the Main, Hamburg, and Bremen, as well as smaller towns and rural areas.
3. The "Practice in Need" campaign allowed medical assistants a break during this period, citing their hard work and the absence of a state corona bonus.
4. The healthcare policy in Germany has been a point of contention, with doctors accusing politicians of neglect against the backdrop of the Coronavirus pandemic.
5. Dirk Heinrich, chairman of the Virchowbund, expressed frustration at the lack of response from Health Minister Karl Lauterbach following previous protests.
6. Heinrich stated that services were being cut, waiting times were long, and new patient admissions were frozen in many places.
7. A crisis summit was scheduled at the Federal Ministry of Health for January, with Heinrich alleging that Lauterbach only reacted after facing pressure.
8. Lauterbach had earlier criticized the practice closures, arguing that people needed care despite the holidays.
9. The National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds (GKV) questioned the appropriateness of striking during the holiday season, which would negatively impact patients.
10. Eugen Brysch, chair of the Patient Protection Foundation, likened the practice closures to striking during the holidays and criticized Lauterbach for not stopping the measures.
11. Brysch urged Lauterbach to remind statutory health insurance physicians of their duty to ensure care provider during the crisis.
12. The COVID-19 pandemic, further exacerbated the situation throughout Germany, putting additional pressure on medical practices.
13. The doctors' strikes continued to affect medical practices even after the New Year, causing disruptions to healthcare services throughout the country.

Source: www.stern.de