The decision of the Vienna Health Association to remove patients from the federal states, provided they are not emergencies, would be tantamount to capitulating in the face of the current staff shortage. City councilor Peter Hacker should “admit his failure”.
“The order of the Vienna Health Association to remove patients from federal states is the capitulation of the city to the current staff shortage in Vienna’s hospitals,” says Stefan Ferenci, president of the curia of dependent doctors and vice president of the Vienna Medical Association .
“It is disappointing that Red Vienna relies on de-solidarity in a health crisis. It is unacceptable that it is patients who suffer from the failure of Vienna’s health policy and that financial disputes between federal states are carried on the shoulders of patients and doctors”.
Instead of limiting services, the city should take steps to retain or bring back staff. It was time for city councilor Peter Hacker (SPÖ, note) “He finally ended his campaign against the Vienna Doctors Association, admitted his failure and worked with us on measures to secure treatment.”
Vienna’s FPÖ also found an “unacceptable situation” on Friday: Vienna must now do everything “under high pressure” to increase the number of medical staff so that the ailing health system does not completely collapse, asks health spokesman Wolfgang Seidl.
Entrance only in case of emergency
The background to the attack on the city government is that the Vienna hospitals have only been mandated to treat patients who do not have their primary residence in Vienna in an emergency or when the highly specialized infrastructure of the Vienna hospitals is needed for the treatment. “Die Presse” reported on Friday. The background to this decision is the growing bottlenecks in hospitals.
According to its own statements, the Vienna Health Association has an average of about 20% inpatients. In some areas there are even more. “In light of these numbers, we are getting further and further away from our mission,” says Evelyn Kölldorfer-Leitgeb, director general of the health network.
20 percent are 700 patients a day, calculates Michael Binder, medical director of the Vienna Health Association. “We are delighted that our expertise is also appreciated in the federal states. But the clinics in Lower Austria and Burgenland also offer first-class medical services,” he says. Those who need urgent medical attention in the federal capital will also get it. Emergency treatment, for example in the event of a heart attack, would “of course continue to be carried out”. In the case of scheduled treatments and interventions, on the other hand, a hospital close to home is preferable for treatment.
(“Die Presse”, print edition, December 10, 2022)
