The good news beforehand: Germany's health care system continues to enjoy a good reputation - and not only in professional circles, but also in the general population. 77 percent of citizens call it good or even very good. That is a bit less than in 2016, but also significantly more than ten years ago: in 2009, only 64 percent were satisfied.
The figures come from the "Health Report 2019" of the MLP Group, a financial and investment advisory service. The survey data was collected by the Allensbach Institute for Demoscopy, more than 1,200 citizens and around 500 physicians were interviewed.
Doctors who know the system from the inside are even more satisfied: 89 percent of doctors say it's good or even very good. Bad find it just eleven percent.
But within the medical profession, there are sometimes considerable nuances - and these concern above all the care in hospitals. A clear majority of 61 percent of the surveyed clinicians complained that they now have too little time for the treatment of patients. This is a significant increase, in 2016, 50 percent of this opinion had been.
Many also report that they have actually postponed necessary treatments because of cost pressures (64 percent) or even have to do without them altogether (48 percent). The vast majority is now convinced that the treatment of patients increasingly focuses on economic aspects. This is apparently a consequence of changes in the remuneration of hospitals, which settle for some years, inter alia, according to case lump sums.
This is also reflected in the rating given by physicians employed in hospitals to the quality of care in clinics. In the meantime, 19 per cent of physicians refer to them as "less good" or "poor", which is more than twice as high as in 2016 (nine per cent). Overall, however, a clear majority considers the situation to be "good" or even "very good".
The survey also provides indications of possible reasons for these changes: A growing number of physicians are reporting considerable difficulties in filling vacant positions. And: The overcrowded emergency rooms of the hospitals are a problem. Three-quarters of the physicians surveyed report that patients with non-acute problems often present themselves, and thus unnecessarily tie up forces for other treatments in the hospital.
more on the subject
With regard to a legislative reform, the MLP report contains a certain amount of explosives: The German government and experts are largely in agreement to reduce the number of hospitals and instead to merge special departments, especially in large hospitals. On the one hand, this should save costs, but it also demonstrably increases the quality of care, because many small houses lack technology and expertise.
However, the attitude of most citizens is diametrically opposed. 55 percent want "a hospital in every major city". Only 35 percent find "less well-equipped hospitals" desirable.