The phone rings non-stop, patients are queuing.
General practitioner Dr.
Klaus Röttger from Wolfratshausen.
Dr. Röttger, how annoyed are you when the phones ring in your family doctor's practice?
Klaus Röttger
: Fortunately, I can't hear the phone when the door is closed.
You would have to ask our staff that question.
I know that they are very, very, very annoyed with the phone.
It really rings through.
Regardless of when you come to the practice: at least one colleague is on the phone at all times.
Who is calling you mainly at the moment?
Röttger:
At the moment, a lot of infection patients are reporting who want to be tested for Corona.
In addition, an incredible number of people who want to be vaccinated have been calling for a few weeks to make an appointment.
And of course, normal everyday life has to go on: after all, we also treat people who want a preventive medical check-up or who suffer from diseases that have nothing to do with Corona.
On a scale from one to ten: How big is Corona in your work?
Röttger:
Nine.
How do you handle all the work?
Röttger:
We have introduced our own infection consultation hours, in which the many patients can be tested for the coronavirus.
We administer the vaccinations in specially established vaccination consultation hours.
You certainly didn't twiddle your thumbs before Corona. Are there any of your other tasks falling by the wayside?
Röttger:
We try, of course, that nothing is left behind.
But we are quite limited in terms of time due to the additional tasks.
This means that patients have to wait longer for routine examinations or check-up appointments - also on the phone, by the way.
We hear again and again that patients have problems getting through because their colleagues are busy with detailed questions about Corona, vaccinations or the infection consultation hours.
How long do I have to wait for an appointment if I call for a check-up today?
Röttger:
That can take two or three weeks.
What if I suffer from acute abdominal cramps?
Röttger:
Then of course you will get an appointment as soon as possible.
The relatively long waiting times only apply to predictable, non-urgent matters.
The sick will continue to be cared for as always.
How large is the proportion of suspected corona cases among the sick?
Röttger:
That is the major part.
But this is also due to the time of year.
In addition to Corona, there are still colds, flu, tonsillitis - seasonal diseases that are common at this time of the year and have similar symptoms.
Do these patients all have to go to the infection clinic?
Röttger:
Right.
It may not be as easy for patients as it was before the pandemic broke out.
Röttger:
We're trying to keep it simple.
The patients get an appointment because they are not allowed to go to the practice with symptoms.
You have to wait in front of the door for us to call you in.
With tonsillitis it is not particularly pleasant in November weather.
Röttger:
We do our best to meet the deadlines as precisely as possible.
No sick person should stand in the cold for half an hour.
But we have to minimize the risk of a corona positive infecting other patients.
Who do you test in your practice?
Röttger:
We only do PCR tests on symptomatic patients.
People who are freed from quarantine have to drive to the test center in Bad Tölz.
We also cannot offer quick tests that are required for the 3G regulations.
Why not?
Röttger:
The time required for the many tests is already enormous.
More is not possible.
An example: I have a cough. I'll make an appointment with you, come to the smear - and then what?
Röttger:
Then you have to wait first.
Because of the many tests, the laboratories are quite overloaded, so it can take three days at the moment to get the result.
Our patients can call up their test results themselves on the Internet.
If it is positive, it is the turn of the health department in Bad Tölz.
What if I am negative? Do I then have to make a new appointment to get a diagnosis?
Röttger:
As part of the infection clinic, all patients also receive treatment and a diagnosis.
How many smears are taken in your family doctor's practice every day?
Röttger: It's not
exactly constant, but around 30 to 40 corona tests per day are the rule.
That alone means an immense expenditure of time - the vaccination has to be added. How big is the rush?
Röttger:
It's similar to the infection clinic.
Unfortunately, almost no one came for the vaccination in the summer.
In the meantime, we even stopped ordering vaccination doses because we didn't want to throw them away.
Only in the past few weeks has the demand increased enormously.
Who will come to you for vaccination?
Röttger:
The proportion of booster vaccinations is very large.
But there are also a few that come here for the first time.
They may not have wanted to be vaccinated at first, but now it's getting socially uncomfortable.
If I can no longer take part in social life as usual, no longer go to restaurants or go to the swimming pool because I have not been vaccinated, that is a factor in the decision.
From a medical point of view, that's good, isn't it?
Röttger:
Yes, of course.
And how do you rate these measures from an ethical point of view?
Röttger:
That is a difficult question.
From a professional point of view, I think everyone should get vaccinated.
These regulations are something that may make the decision easier.
Presumably, clarification also helps. How do you meet people who are skeptical?
Röttger:
I always ask the patients whether they have been vaccinated.
Some find it difficult to say “no”.
I then try to find out where their skepticism is coming from.
I can try to convince people with arguments.
But if someone has decided for himself personally that he does not want a vaccination, then that is his personal decision.
Then even a discussion will lead to nothing.
Some people want an antibody test to find out whether a booster makes sense. What do you make of it?
Röttger:
We expressly do not recommend that.
You can already do this blood determination.
But you cannot make a recommendation from this as to whether you should get vaccinated again or not.
The only thing that can be found out by this test is whether or not the body responded to the vaccination at all.
This only makes sense for people who are currently undergoing chemotherapy or who have an organ transplant in their body - and whose immune system is suppressed as a result.
How do I find out when a booster or booster vaccination makes sense?
Röttger:
By looking at the calendar: The booster makes sense five to six months after the second vaccination.
I will need my booster vaccination soon. When can I come to see you?
Röttger:
If you make an appointment today, you can come in February.
But we are in the process of expanding the range of vaccinations.
For example, we will start vaccinating on Saturdays as well.
Hopefully this will mean that we can bring the February dates forward.
The doctor's offices are vaccinating at the attack - and the Tölz vaccination center was not reopened until Monday. Do GPs have to pay for the lack of political foresight?
Röttger:
I wouldn't put it that way.
You shouldn't forget that the staff at the vaccination centers sat around in the summer and twiddled their thumbs because the demand was so low.
Such a center costs a lot of money.
That was one reason some was closed.
Now the situation is different.
And the reopening of the second vaccination center in the district, in Bad Tölz, takes some pressure off us.
Also read: This is how the new medical on-call service has proven itself
Vaccinations are on everyone's lips at the moment. Do you see a greater interest in other vaccines as well?
Röttger:
We always had a great deal of demand for flu vaccinations in winter, which is largely unbroken.
More and more people are asking for pneumococcal vaccinations.
And some leaf through their vaccination certificate because of Corona and find that the tetanus booster is overdue.
The awareness of the subject is changing at the moment.
From a medical point of view, this is good news.
Also read: Bad Tölz vaccination center has reopened
The Leopoldina, the German Academy of Sciences, has proposed compulsory vaccination. Could the general practitioners even manage that?
Röttger:
The practices alone couldn't cope with that.
But together with the vaccination centers, I already see an opportunity.
At the beginning of the vaccination campaign, mobile teams drove to many facilities and administered the vaccine there.
If vaccination were compulsory in Germany, then I assume that this infrastructure would be expanded again.
How much overtime has your team accumulated since the pandemic started?
Röttger:
For everyone - not just general practitioners - there was a considerable additional burden, no question about it.
But I can't put the number of hours.
Maybe that's a good thing.
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