Red alarm level: Lack of staff in the Gailtal Clinic endangers patients!

Red alarm level: Lack of staff in the Gailtal Clinic endangers patients!

Hermagor, Österreich - In the past few months, a worrying picture has emerged in the Gailtal Clinic in Hermagor. A tense personnel situation has been reported for a long time, which now leads to considerable restrictions in the company. The Gailtal-Journal addresses the demands of the Carinthia team, which addresses a comprehensive information of health officer Beate Prettner (SPÖ) demands in terms of personnel situation. The team of Carinthia, Martin Köfer, makes it clear that the ongoing bottleneck has serious problems for patients, including long waiting times and a restriction of care.

The Gailtal Clinic is of central importance for the rehabilitation of patients with strokes, nerve diseases and brain injuries. Köfer emphasizes the need to return to normal operation and sees the temporary shift of acute cases to Klagenfurt and Villach as an inadequate solution. "There is really something here," says Köfer, who claims to be able to make a manner.

lack of doctors as a pressing problem

The challenges in front of which the Gailtal Clinic is facing is the acute shortage of specialist. During a protest demonstration on May 6, 2024 in Klagenfurt, 350 doctors made aware of the precarious situation in the Carinthian health system under the motto "Prettner vs. Preiss". MeinDzirk reports that Petra Preiss, spokeswoman for the Carinthian hospital physician, unexpectedly pointed out the dangers of a foreseeable lack of specialists in specialists has. Many doctors retire in the coming years, which could further tighten the supply situation.

The medical director of the Gailtal Clinic, Christina Hohenwarter, contradicts the claims about a lack of personnel and emphasizes that the job plan is well staffed. However, there would be a need for around a doctor. Hohenwarter also draws attention to the attractive employer position of the KABEG, which not only relies on excellent salaries, but also on the targeted promotion of young people.

reform needs in healthcare

The problems of the Gailtal Clinic are part of a larger, structural dilemma in the Austrian health system. Wirtschafts-Nachrichten emphasizes that reforms in the healthcare system have so far repeatedly failed due to the numerous managers and their different interests. Fragmented financing and responsibilities mean that necessary changes often only get tough and slowly.

During the pandemic there was progress, for example when introducing the e-vaccination pass, the momentum for sustainable reforms seems to have decreased. The expectant digitization in the healthcare system could offer a solution here, but so far does not seem to be promoted sufficiently.