Enlarge image
Emergency room in Germany (symbol picture)
Photo: Maurizio Gambarini / dpa
According to a media report, the economic situation of hospitals in Germany is worse than it has been in more than two decades.
As the newspapers of the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND) reported on Monday, citing the current hospital barometer of the German Hospital Institute, 60 percent of the clinics expect a loss for 2021.
The RND quoted the head of the German Hospital Society (DKG), Gerald Gaß, as saying that the situation has never been so gloomy since the hospital barometer was first surveyed in 2000.
According to this, the proportion of facilities that made losses is likely to double compared to the previous year.
Only 22 percent of the clinics expect an improvement in 2022.
According to the report, the main reason for the development is the lower utilization during the pandemic.
Because of the crisis, operations that could be planned more than once were postponed, and many people avoid medical consultations on their own out of fear of infections.
More and more employees are missing
The DKG also expressed concern about staff shortages in the hospitals.
According to the barometer, four out of five clinics have problems filling vacant care positions in their general and intensive care units.
According to this, around 22,300 care positions are vacant nationwide.
Since 2016, this corresponds to a threefold increase in the number of vacancies.
“The nursing staff shortage is the most pressing problem in health policy.
He has to go to the top of the political agenda, ”said DKG boss Gass to the RND.
The future prospects for vacancies are also bleak.
According to the survey, every second hospital expects the nursing staff situation to deteriorate over the next three years.
jok / AFP
