Intensive fiasco: Thousands of beds fewer than in 2020 - because politics made a fatal mistake

The situation in Germany's intensive care units is very worrying.

The fourth wave of the coronavirus is causing bottlenecks.

For Markus Söder there is only one solution.

Munich - The daily report of the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (DIVI) provides regular information on the status of the intensive care beds. The current report from November 16 stated that 31,806 beds are currently available. However, this includes the 9,600 beds in the emergency reserve. Exactly one year earlier, the daily report, including the emergency reserve, showed 40,430 intensive care beds - over 8,600 more than in the following year.

In the middle of the fourth wave of the coronavirus *, Germany's intensive care units are threatened with overload.

The situation is particularly tense in Bavaria, Thuringia and Saxony, where the vast majority of corona intensive care patients are treated (as of November 17).

“You can assume that we will continue to grow with 50 to 100 patients per day.

That means that in ten days you will have 4000 intensive care patients.

Today we have to see to it that people are relocated to other federal states, ”said Christian Karagiannidis, head of the DIVI intensive care register, with great concern.

Corona ensures a lack of intensive care beds - the solution approach by FDP politician Kubicki goes wrong

FDP * politician Wolfgang Kubicki believed that he knew the solution to the intensive care bed problem.

In an interview with

suggested simply activating the emergency reserve.

But Kubicki's proposal is too short-sighted.

Activation is not that simple.

“The emergency reserve mostly includes the beds that are on the intermediate care station or in the recovery room,” nursing scientist Martina Hasseler told

.

"If they are to be used, the staff from the intensive care unit must also operate these beds."

Due to the massive shortage of nurses, some of the existing beds cannot be used at all.

You first have to explain to people “that the beds from the emergency reserve cannot look after, but that the nursing staff do it.

And these are missing, ”said Hasseler.

On Twitter, too, there was resentment about Kubicki's approach to a solution, he was often felt like sheer mockery.

Corona stresses intensive care units: Kubicki's proposal is torn up on Twitter

"In the current situation, this man is slowly banning his mouth," scolded one user. And did the math: “Training as a nurse three years. Intensive care nurse training for five years. Whatever you complain about now and pack on candy: it comes at least five years too late. "Alexander Eichholtz, who works as a staff council at the Berlin Charité, wrote derisively about a photo of an empty hospital bed:" This is a sick bed. It can't do anything on its own, even if we 'activate' it, Mr Kubicki. "

The FDP vice should reconsider his proposed solution.

To date, Germany has not gotten a grip on the shortage of skilled workers in the care sector.

No wonder, after all, carers in this country are poorly paid.

In addition, due to a large amount of overtime due to a lack of manpower, they have to do their service to the point of exhaustion.

Corona in Germany: Nurses and Söder are demanding significantly better pay

At the beginning of the corona pandemic, the topic of nursing staff was already publicly discussed. In many places, the carers were given symbolic applause to show them recognition for their work. A sensational TV show by ProSieben presenters Joko Winterscheidt and Klaas Heufer-Umlauf also brought the care emergency into focus. But nurses cannot buy anything from all of this. Their situation has not really improved, so far it has been paid lip service.

"The entire care system is not healthy," warned Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder * to

. The federal government "simply failed to pay more," said the CSU * chairman. A fatal mistake., Maybe even THE most fatal one. Compared to the tabloid, a spokesman for Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn * (CDU *) said: "Care was one of the main topics of this legislature." That is why the federal government has tackled the financing of additional positions in the care of the elderly and the sick. An increase was also achieved in terms of payment. The salary (minimum wage 2,700 euros) is from the point of view of the President of the German Nursing Council, Christine Vogler, however still clearly too low. She demanded a minimum wage of 4,000 euros.

List of rubric lists: © Jan Woitas / dpa