Government publishes hospital reform plan in North Rhine-Westphalia
Created: 04/27/2022, 17:06
A light box with a red cross hanging in front of a hospital emergency room.
© Julian Stratenschulte/dpa/symbol picture
Two and a half weeks before the state elections, the black and yellow state government published the politically controversial plan for a far-reaching hospital reform in North Rhine-Westphalia on Wednesday.
In the future, the hospitals in North Rhine-Westphalia will specialize in certain services, from stroke care to knee prostheses and pancreas surgery.
Düsseldorf - A key point is that a hospital with internal and surgical care must be accessible for 90 percent of the population within 20 minutes by car.
"In the end, it's about reliable and high-quality hospital care for the people in our state - in the metropolitan areas as well as in the rural regions," said Health Minister Karl-Josef Laumann (CDU).
Agreement was reached with the stakeholders in the state committee for hospital planning.
The aim is the "sustainable strengthening of the hospital landscape".
The hospital plan is a central project of the black and yellow state government.
A new state parliament will be elected on May 15th.
However, the decisions on the concrete implementation of the specifications of the hospital plan in the regions are only made later - through regional planning concepts.
The process is currently being prepared, it said.
According to the plan, the number of beds will no longer be the central planning tool in the future.
Rather, the annual number of cases per medical service, such as hip and knee prostheses, organ transplants or obstetrics, is used to determine the inpatient requirement.
Intensive care medicine must be provided across the board.
NRW is the first federal state with such a model.
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Many hospitals suffer from a shortage of skilled workers and are in the red.
The hospital company NRW had not ruled out that the new plan could lead to the closure of individual departments or entire hospitals in individual cases.
Specifically, the plan identifies service areas and groups that represent medical specialties such as general internal medicine, cardiology, oncology or orthopedics, as well as specific sub-disciplines such as stem cell transplantation or hip and spine surgery.
Quality specifications are made for each discipline - for example for staff and equipment.
dpa