Den clinics are currently experiencing an above-average level of sick leave among employees. “We are now likely to have a staff shortage of nine to ten percent, which means that almost every tenth employee is sick,” said the CEO of the German Hospital Society (DKG), Gerald Gaß, the German Press Agency. That is 30 to 40 percent more failures than usual at this time of year.
Many employees are affected by the infectious diseases, which also cause high patient numbers. In addition to Corona, the flu and RS viruses in children are currently causing many diseases across the country.
Children’s hospitals particularly affected
The staff situation is thin anyway, said Gass. “As a result, beds are currently blocked in a number of hospitals or entire wards have to be logged off. We are not allowed to treat if we fall below staff limits. ”The children’s hospitals are particularly affected because many nursing staff with additional training work there. “It’s not that easy to deploy staff from an adult ward to the children’s ward.”
In this situation there is no easy solution. “One adjustment screw would be the relief of bureaucracy and documentation obligations. The Minister of Health should go back and give the hospitals some leeway,” said Gass. “One should now consistently say that the nurses only have to document the most necessary things that are important for patient treatment and can otherwise concentrate on the care.”
The DKG boss also spoke out in favor of suspending the lower personnel limits. “In a situation like this, it is appropriate to give the hospitals the responsibility to decide where they can organize good care with a little less staff.”
