Enlarge image
Nurse in Baden-Wüttemberg: The Court of Auditors generally draws a critical conclusion of the aid measures for hospitals and nursing staff
Photo: Marijan Murat / dpa
At the beginning of the corona pandemic, caregivers applauded – and promised a bonus.
Now a Federal Audit Office report on failures in the payment of the Corona bonus for nursing staff in Berlin is causing political discussions.
"It is unacceptable that not all nurses have received the promised bonuses," said left-wing household expert Gesine Lötzsch to the AFP news agency.
According to the test report, which is available to AFP, many nurses have not yet received the bonus promised in 2020 by former Minister of Health Jens Spahn (CDU).
According to the report, which was first reported by the Süddeutsche Zeitung, NDR and WDR, it was due to an "error and abuse-prone" payment procedure.
Numerous institutions had applied for "no payment of federal funds".
On the other hand, some company owners had "wrongly" claimed the state bonus for themselves.
Problems could recur
The Federal Court of Auditors expressed the fear that the problem could also arise in the same way with the care bonus for 2022, because the payments of this new bonus to the 1.2 million employees should follow the same pattern.
It is to be expected that "the susceptibility of the previous procedure to errors and abuse" will continue with the care bonus, according to the test report.
The Court of Auditors also draws a general critical conclusion of the state corona aid measures for hospitals and nursing staff as well as the free quick tests for citizens.
"In large parts, the foreseeable abuse of the use of funds has not been and will not be effectively counteracted by procedural regulations," says the as yet unpublished report, which was initially sent to the responsible Bundestag committees.
The current Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) explained the allegations: “Denying nurses their rightful bonus is fraud.” The bonus should express appreciation for the work done in the pandemic.
It is therefore “incomprehensible when employers torpedo this concern by not submitting an application for payment of a care bonus for their employees or even wrongly pocketing the bonuses themselves”.
The legislator had to assume legally compliant behavior here, explained Lauterbach.
For the new care bonuses, however, it was at least stipulated that employers would have to notify the actual payment amount by February 2023.
ani/AFP