The enormous burden of the pandemic would have to be further exacerbated, the already tense situation, warns city councilor Anja Hagenauer (SPÖ) in a broadcast.

Salzburg before care collapse

“The situation is dramatic. Salzburg is facing a collapse of the system in the area of ​​care and support. The migration from the nursing professions is currently the main problem, according to Hagenauer. That is why she is calling for aid of one billion euros from the federal government as the first immediate measure. These aids are to be invested in training, retraining and further training in order to maintain the personnel standard and to be able to acquire new nursing staff. Of the billion in the federal government, around 70 million would go to the state of Salzburg. The city of Salzburg announced this in a broadcast.

Appointment of authorized caregivers required

Although health and social affairs are bundled in one ministry at the federal level, there is currently a conflict of competencies that would pose significant obstacles to the financing of new offers. A required care representative will be appointed, who represents the interests of the people to be cared for and is committed to ensuring that the structures and offers of the and care system are adapted to the needs of the person in need of care. Appropriate experts should also be deployed at the state level. In this way, the interface between hospitals and care facilities should also be bridged. In order to be able to counter the shortage of skilled workers, the model of a federal agency for the application of nursing staff is proposed. One problem, for example, is that skilled workers who have been trained abroad are often only allowed to work in caring jobs in Austria, according to Hagenauer.

Red tape disabled caregivers

In a survey among the city care workers it was often stated that the documentation of processes is connected as a “brutal” obstacle to work. In addition, it could reduce the burden on the nursing staff in the area of ​​medication administration. “At the moment, highly trained nurses are only allowed to administer or use drugs of any kind through medical patients. An adaptation of the legal framework could make things much easier.

Nursing support team planned

A nationwide care support team is to be appointed to support the care system in the event of an acute shortage of staff. This emergency team was planned but not implemented at the height of the pandemic.

Focus on education and training

For several years now, the city has been offering the fully financed training of nurses with full wages and within working hours. This model could be rolled out nationwide without any problems. Currently, the costs are borne by the city without being covered by the daily rates. The costs of the training staff should be reimbursed directly to all supporting organizations in order to enable them to do this training and to ensure that further training costs do not stick to the nursing staff who want to continue their training.

(Source: SALZBURG24)