According to a recent survey, there are not enough pediatric nurses in Germany.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin Too few nurses, an acute wave of the respiratory disease RSV: German intensive care and emergency physicians complain about a dramatic lack of beds in children’s hospitals.
“The situation is so precarious that children are dying because we can no longer take care of them,” said Michael Sasse, senior physician in pediatric intensive care at the Hannover Medical School, on Thursday in Hamburg. A survey of the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (DIVI) shows how tense the situation in paediatrics is.
- In 43 of the 110 participating children’s hospitals, not a single bed was free on the normal ward.
- There are a total of 130 of these institutions in Germany. Sample day of the survey was November 24th, a week ago.
- According to Divi, there are still 83 free beds in pediatric intensive care units throughout Germany – that’s 0.75 free beds per clinic, i.e. less than one per location.
- Every second clinic reported that they had to reject a child in the last 24 hours. A total of 116 young patients were rejected – in one day.
- In regions like Munich, all children’s intensive care units have been logged out around the clock in the past four weeks.
“This is a catastrophic situation, there is no other way to describe it,” said Florian Hoffmann, Divi Secretary General and Munich pediatric intensive care physician. “That’s why we demand the immediate optimization of working conditions in the children’s hospitals. “In addition, facilities should be better networked with each other, including through specialized children’s intensive care transport systems, says Hoffmann.
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The situation has progressively worsened over the years. The main reason is the lack of staff, which means that fewer patients can be cared for.
The 110 houses that took part in the survey showed combined 607 erectable beds out. This is the total capacity, but only 367 beds were in use.
Children’s hospitals: Lack of care exacerbates situation while RS virus is rampant
In 79 houses, i.e. 71.8 percent of those surveyed, a lack of nursing staff is a specific reason for the bed closures. There are also more chronically ill patients. “The RSV wave continues to build up and makes treatment with respiratory support necessary for many children,” said Sebastian Brenner, Divi Congress President and Head of Department at the University Children’s Hospital Dresden. “As of today, we can assume that there are not enough children’s intensive care beds for this treatment.” Recently, the number of small children who have been infected with the RS virus has increased drastically in Germany. The virus can cause breathing difficulties and pneumonia.
In view of the situation in the hospitals, the Divi called for better training and working conditions. Among other things, children’s hospitals should be obliged to train children’s nurses.
In addition, the working conditions would have to be improved through contingency plans – for example in the event of illness of employees. In addition, there must be paid training during working hours.
Dramatic situation in children’s hospitals: Minister of Health Lauterbach is planning help
Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) is also planning to ease the situation with surcharges for children’s hospitals, which are to be decided in the Bundestag on Friday. Among other things, they envisage removing paediatrics from the case-based flat-rate system and financing the upkeep costs. 270 million euros are estimated for the next two years.
However, Divi Secretary General Hoffmann expressed doubts that the funds would be sufficient. “We don’t even know how much deficit pediatrics makes as a whole,” he said.
Overall, the maintenance costs are very high, especially in winter. I can’t imagine that the sum would be enough “to really rehabilitate pediatrics,” said Hoffmann.
Divi Congress President Brenner added that there would be no “short-term improvement” due to the lack of staff. “We have to prepare ourselves for some very, very difficult years.”
More: More millions in aid – Lauterbach is planning this for the children’s wards