Overload at hospitals: “We have to turn away pregnant women with labour”

Created: 12/22/2022, 4:53 p.m

By: Linus Prien

Hospitals lack the staff to treat patients (symbol image).

© IMAGO / YAY Images

There is a lack of staff, both nurses and doctors.

This is what the situation looks like, according to a doctor in clinics in Hamburg.

As a result, pregnant women must also be turned away.

Hamburg – State of emergency in Hamburg's hospitals: A senior doctor from the Hanseatic city reports to

and via Instagram about the sometimes shocking conditions: "We have to reject pregnant women with labor because we no longer have any free capacity," says Rebekka Westphal, senior doctor in gynecology at a Hamburg clinic.

In the past few weeks, circumstances have come together that have pushed the system in Hamburg to its limits and beyond.

Westphal writes in a post on Instagram: "We are (more than) halfway over the abyss."

Hospital emergency in Hamburg: Optimal care "simply not possible"

There are several reasons for the acute state of emergency at the clinics in Hamburg.

On the one hand, there is a lack of nurses and doctors anyway.

In addition, however, there has been a wave of illness in the past few weeks, which has also affected hospital employees and thus in turn restricted the capacities of clinics.

A cold wave that reaches Hamburg and thus leads to an increased number of accidents shows how drastic these deficiencies can be.

In emergencies in particular, you have to act quickly, the doctor explains: "In emergencies, triage must be carried out as quickly as possible, i.e. it has to be decided who will be treated first." If the number of emergencies increases due to icy roads, then you can choose the optimal one Not guaranteeing supply: "It's just not possible."

Hospital overload: “We send heavily pregnant women all over Hamburg”

"Too little care, there are not enough doctors," summarizes the Hamburg doctor the situation on Instagram.

The problem is not that there are not enough beds.

The staff is not enough.

This then leads to pregnant women being turned away and having to be referred to other clinics or: “If our delivery room is not closed, we often take in women from other clinics if they don’t have capacity.

So we send heavily pregnant women all over Hamburg, depending on which delivery room in the city still has capacity.”

The same experience is also shared by Dr.

Sebastian Casu, chief physician at a Hamburg clinic.

Opposite RTL

he says that they want to treat all patients.

Because of the situation, however, some patients would have to be referred to other clinics.

The prospects for hospital staff are not good.

Nursing staff and doctors are absent, but others are also resigning.

It's hard to find a replacement, says Dr.

Westphalia.

What remains is enormous stress and work without end.