The hospital closures could exacerbate the shortage of general practitioners
The end of the Münsingen and Tiefenau hospitals also affects family doctors. They fear a backlog in further training.
Are there any delays? The Tiefenauspital was popular for further training to become a general practitioner.
Photo: Keystone (symbol image)
The upcoming closures of the Münsingen and Tiefenau hospitals are not only causing displeasure among the employees concerned. The Bernese general practitioners are also concerned. They fear that the end of the two locations could exacerbate the problem of young people in basic care.
“We are expecting a ‘training backlog’,” says Corinne Sydler – and further: “The transfer of new general practitioners to the practice could be delayed as a result,” said the co-president of the Bern general practitioners and pediatricians (VBHK).
But what is it all about?
There has been a shortage of general practitioners in Switzerland for years, and it is getting worse all the time. The result: practices are merged or closed because no successor solutions can be found.
In the canton of Bern, investments have therefore been made in training and further education, and a special practical assistance program has been developed. This is intended to motivate young doctors to specialize in primary care. Further training to become a specialist in general internal medicine or family doctor takes five years and mostly takes place in hospitals.
Tiefenau was popular with general practitioners
Such assistance positions are offered today both in Münsingen and in Tiefenau in Bern. “In terms of the range of patients and the way they work, both hospitals were good preparation for the practice,” says Corinne Sydler. In particular, the Tiefenauspital was very popular for further training to become a family doctor in the entire canton of Bern.
Fear of a further training backlog: Corinne Sydler, Co-President of the Bern family and paediatricians.
Photo: PD
Because: It is a so-called A-hospital. One of the five years of further training must be completed in an institution with this label. The number of patients, the number of senior physicians or whether there is an intensive care unit is decisive for the classification of the hospitals. “This A-year is already like a needle’s eye in our further training, there are waiting times and rather too few such positions in the canton of Bern,” says Sydler.
With the closure of the two hospitals, these training positions are now in danger of being lost. Sydler has also heard of assistant doctors “who are in despair with an employment contract in Tiefenau for 2024 to 2025 and now don’t know where to find accommodation”.
Not only family doctors are affected by the problem, but also all other specialist areas for which there are further training positions in Münsingen and Tiefenau.
Insel Group wants to expand the offer at the university hospital
On request, the Insel Group does not communicate how many assistance positions are offered there today. According to a survey by the medical professional association FMH, 14 assistant doctors were working in Münsingen in 2022, 6 of them in the field of internal medicine. In Tiefenau there were 57, of which 29 were doing further training to become a general practitioner. There were around 530 postgraduate training positions in internal medicine throughout the canton of Bern.
What will happen to the affected places in Münsingen and Tiefenau after the closure is not entirely clear. On request, the Insel Group only writes that integration into the Inselspital is being examined for all medical offers that are provided in the two hospitals.
“I’m not a clairvoyant. But I’m afraid that not all continuing education positions will be continued.”
It has already been decided to expand the emergency capacities there and the area of internal medicine. “Planned integration of offers also includes the further training positions,” writes the media office – without naming any numbers. Aspiring general practitioners could also benefit from “an extensive range of further training opportunities” in the future.
Nevertheless, today’s residents should, “whenever possible”, be able to complete their years of further training at the Insel Group. In the case of new assistant doctors, on the other hand, their year of training in the Tiefenau and Münsingen hospitals had to be cancelled. The media office does not write whether they were offered an alternative.
Health Directorate is confident
According to figures from the responsible health department (GSI), the Insel Group currently offers around 760 further training positions. The canton believes that this will continue to be the case in the future.
Gundekar Giebel, media officer at GSI, writes: “According to information from the Insel Group, the further training positions previously offered in the Münsingen and Tiefenau hospitals will be continued at other locations.” From today’s perspective, there should therefore be no dismantling, according to Giebel.
Family doctor Corinne Sydler, on the other hand, is skeptical: “I’m not a clairvoyant. But I fear that not all continuing education positions will be continued. Our problem with young people will exacerbate this further.”
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2023-05-21 18:58:07
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