Image: Radio Bremen
More and more people come to hospital with Corona, as respiratory diseases spread among children. The situation in Bremen is so tense.
In addition to the waves of infections in the cold season, there is a shortage of skilled workers, which is also spreading to the health sector. “Sewn on edge”, this is how a spokesman for the Red Cross hospital described the personnel situation and the management of the wards at the request of buten un binnen. A finding that applies to almost all hospitals and clinics in the state of Bremen and in Germany.
Tense situation: Pediatricians send a letter to the health department
The tense situation of pediatricians in practices and clinics is now also occupying the Bremen authorities. A corresponding letter from the Association of Paediatricians has been received, health department spokesman Lukas Fuhrmann said in buten un binnen: “We will now bring together paediatricians and children’s hospitals at short notice to find possible solutions to the tense situation. ” According to Fuhrmann, the current need in pediatric practices and clinics is probably due to a lack of specialized personnel.
And the Bremen hospital Geno (Gesundheit Nord) also confirms this: the lack of personnel combined with a high number of cases due to different waves of infection lead to a serious situation. Staff have already been pulled from other areas – temporary workers should also help, but they are only available to a limited extent.
At the moment we can only occupy 88 of the 140 beds in the parent-child center due to a lack of nursing staff. This means that we continue to have to transfer children to other clinics because we are reaching our capacity limits.
Karen Matiszick, spokeswoman for Geno
Geno hospitals are currently treating 16 children aged 0-4 years with respiratory disease RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) in their wards. A child is also hospitalized in the intensive care unit. According to Geno’s spokeswoman, the number of cases is on the rise: The wave of RSV is rolling, but it probably hasn’t reached its peak yet.
In the Bremerhaven children’s clinic at the Reinkenheide Clinic, the situation is still tense. The course of the disease lasts about two weeks, which is why the beds are occupied for a long time and the number of beds is so often used up, says the head physician of the clinic Axel Renneberg.
There are currently many diseases not only in the state of Bremen: The Geno points out that the situation is also tense in the rest of Germany. According to this, almost a quarter of the children in Lower Saxony’s kindergartens were absent last week, but not all due to respiratory diseases.
The occupancy of the Corona hospital doubled in 10 days
According to a health department spokesman, Corona is also becoming a problem again. In the city of Bremen in particular, the number of hospitals would increase again. On November 21, 90 hospital beds in Bremen were still occupied by corona patients. Ten days later – on December 1 – the number doubled: 189 patients are now in Bremen hospitals with Corona. The incidence is also increasing in Bremen, but lower than the bed occupancy with corona-infected people.
The trend applies to all hospitals in Bremen that have responded to a request for buten un binnen: The Geno clinic team is treating 142 corona-infected patients, ten of them in the intensive care unit. In the previous week there were 78 patients, at that time three in the intensive care units. According to a spokesperson, the number of corona patients has recently increased again at the St. Joseph Stift. 28 corona-infected people are currently being treated here.
In addition, there is an increase in the rate of sick leave among hospital staff. The number of Geno employees who have fallen ill with Corona is still relatively stable. There are currently about 100 people. According to Geno, there are also many who are not on duty due to other illnesses, such as the flu.
The coronavirus situation in Bremerhaven hospitals is still stable
In contrast to Bremen, there has not yet been a sharp increase in the number of corona patients in hospital beds in Bremerhaven. According to the Bremerhaven health department, 37 corona patients are being treated here – in the previous week they were 46. But the Bremerhaven clinic is also feeling sick leave: 11% of the 2,000 employees here are currently absent. “Here too we are feeling the effects of the current wave of flu and colds,” says a spokesperson. However, care is currently not fundamentally limited in any of the Bremerhaven clinics.
This topic in the program:
Bremen Vier, Vier News, December 1, 2022, 3pm
