Health – Berlin – Health administration contradicts criticism from paediatricians – Health
Berlin (dpa / bb) – After criticism because of the renewed tense situation in the medical care of children in Berlin, the Senate Department for Health has defended itself. “In short, what we can do as a country, we are already doing – and we are investigating this really dramatic situation,” said Armaghan Naghipour, Secretary of State for Science, Research and Equality (independent), on Monday in the House Health Committee. She referred to several steps after a first open letter from doctors on the subject from the previous year: “The Senate has since done a lot to address this really precarious situation.”
The State Secretary cited the “structural underfunding of child and adolescent medicine under the responsibility of the Federal Ministry of Health”, a shortage of nursing staff and “currently aggravating” another respiratory tract infection as the causes of the current situation. Naghipour is expected to hold another meeting between State Secretary Thomas Götz and professional associations on Monday afternoon (today). She also spoke of Senator Ulrike Gote’s (Greens) further willingness to talk.
At the end of November there was also a meeting with chief physicians from children’s hospitals and the fire brigade to discuss measures that could be implemented at short notice. According to this, planned interventions should be postponed if possible in order to enable the care of an increasing number of critically ill children. Commissioning of further beds by mixed teams of child and adult caregivers and the suspension of minimum staffing levels will be checked by the houses, the politician said. As already announced, the Charité will set up a central coordination office for better distribution of sick children.
In addition, Berlin, together with other federal states, has campaigned for the federal government to present a sustainable remuneration system for the adequate financing of children’s clinics. Improvements are to be implemented in Naghipour from 2023, for a total of around 300 million euros.
At the end of last week, several wrote in an open letter to Senator Gote that they saw the safety of the little patients in danger. Increasingly irresponsible conditions prevail not only in the central emergency rooms, but also in outpatient and inpatient pediatrics.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:221205-99-783969/2