As of: February 14, 2024, 6:00 a.m
By: Boris Forstner
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In the future, comprehensive medical care in the district could be at risk.
© Fabrice Michaudeau/Panther Media
Basically, the number of doctors in the Weilheim-Schongau district is looking good – for now.
Because Dr.
Karl Breu, chairman of the district medical association, warns: “The meager increase in the number of doctors is no longer sufficient to ensure long-term, comprehensive care.”
District
– According to Breu, the number of doctors in the district has increased significantly by 29.3 percent in the past ten years.
On average, around three percent per year, sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less.
Last year, however, there were only five additional doctors (0.56 percent) at the registration office of the Upper Bavaria district association, and the number rose to a total of 904 doctors.
Because all doctors who live or work in the district are mandatory members, Breu can break down exactly who works where.
Accordingly, in the past three years there has only been an increase of one doctor in the hospitals, while in the practices there have been 16. “Contrary to the national trend, there are still 309 doctors working on an outpatient basis in the district.
Hospital doctors are well behind with 243,” said Breu.
A further 61 work in “other areas” – for example in the public health service, as a company doctor, in the Bundeswehr or in pharmacy.
There are still more men than women working as doctors
Without medical work, 288 district association members are retired, the largest proportion of them, namely 216 or 75 percent.
Of the remaining 25 percent, according to Breu, 15 doctors are unemployed, 14 work outside their profession and ten are unable to work.
The proportion of women has increased by 40.34 percent to 414 over the past ten years.
“At 490, men still make up the majority,” says Breu.
Across Upper Bavaria, women are already in the majority.
This is also accompanied by a larger proportion of doctors working part-time.
“It is no longer uncommon for three doctors to share a position.
Then you officially have three more doctors, but only one position has been filled,” says Breu.
And since the average age of the population continues to rise, the meager increase in the number of doctors is no longer sufficient to ensure long-term, comprehensive care,” warns Breu.
Basically, more people are needed to fill vacant positions in medical care and to keep the number of available doctor's hours constant - "and that with the increasing number of treatments described," says Breu.
34 percent of practicing doctors are older than 60 years
The official numbers sound – still – good.
The “State Committee for Doctors and Health Insurance Companies” also confirmed this at its meeting on December 15th, says Breu.
Accordingly, above-average care was found for general specialist medical care among all groups of doctors.
This also applies to general practitioners in the three planning areas of Penzberg with 129.26 percent, Schongau-Peiting with 126.6 percent and Weilheim with 108.96 percent.
However, 34 percent of practicing doctors currently belong to the “age group 60 years and older,” according to Breu.
This is particularly evident among ophthalmologists, where more than half (54.5 percent) belong to this age group and, with an average of 60.2 years, in the district is well above the Bavarian average of 52.8 years.
Of the family doctors in the Weilheim area, 37.8 percent are over 60 years old.
“I’m not worried about the next generation because Weilheim is an administrative town,” says Breu.
Complaints about long waiting times are increasing
However, patients are also increasingly complaining to the district association about long waiting times, says Breu.
“We are experiencing overloaded emergency clinics, individual practices and hospital departments are temporarily no longer accepting patients, inpatient facilities are being transferred to outpatient centers with attached MVZs,” said Breu, referring to the Schongau hospital.
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A big problem is still that patients do not go to the right doctor and therefore often clog up the emergency rooms.
This ties up medical capacity, says Breu.
In addition, as in many other areas, there is also excessive bureaucracy.
There are now political efforts to hand over medical tasks to other professional groups such as emergency paramedics or to set up health kiosks in the area.
We don't want to close our eyes to this, but we want to have a say, says Breu.
It is also important to finally make more medical study places available.
Something is finally happening in Bavaria.
“But of course it takes years until these aspiring doctors are in practice,” says Breu.