Bottlenecks in emergency care in Munich: the situation is getting worse
The situation in emergency care in Munich is getting worse. This is shown by the results of a study commissioned by the city.
Munich – Long waiting times in the emergency rooms, delays in the emergency services and bottlenecks in emergency care: Munich has a blue light crisis. This emerges from a study commissioned by the new city. Accordingly, between 2015 and 2019, around 2.2 million clinics deregistered from the hospital traffic light because their capacities were no longer sufficient.
Figures from twelve clinics were included in the study. In the period from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2019, a total of 1,655,674 cases were analyzed. Some of the data from the rescue services was collected from 2015 to 2021. 1,193,738 cases were reported. The Bavarian Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KVB) also deals with emergencies, reporting 1,096,304 patients from the clinics and 1,304,380 cases from the organized on-call service during this period.
Concern for emergency care in Munich: state of emergency in the emergency rooms
Accordingly, the number of outpatients (-5.5 percent) and inpatients (-3.5 percent) declined. 60 percent of the adults and 80 percent of the children were treated in outpatient clinics. On average, adults (outpatient) were 41 years old in 2019 (2015: 38). Patients admitted as inpatients in 2019 were on average 70 years old (2015: 67), children (outpatient) four and (inpatient) three years.
15 percent of the adults and seven percent of the children were taken to the emergency services for outpatient treatment. 36 percent of the adults and 21 percent of the children and adolescents were admitted as inpatients. The total number of deliveries increased by five percent from 2015 to 2019. The waiting time has also increased: on average, the transport time increased from eight minutes in 2015 to ten minutes in 2021. The time from the arrival of the ambulance at the scene of the accident to departure to the hospital (on-scene interval) increased from 28 Minutes in 2015 to 33 minutes in 2021. And the time from the emergency call to the arrival of the car at the hospital (pre-hospital time) even increased from 48 to 57 minutes.
(Our Munich Newsletter informs you regularly about all stories from the Isar metropolis. Sign up here.)
Munich: The number of patients should continue to grow by 2030 and 2040
2,220,354 emergency admissions were canceled via the IVENA system, the so-called hospital traffic lights, because there was simply no more capacity. The study required four times as many acute referrals in 2019 as in 2015. This means: Although a clinic with a ward has signed off, patients were brought to the hospital. According to the study, there are supply deficits in stroke care and intensive care units in particular.
The cases of treatment in the on-call practices of the KVB increased by around 20 percent between 2015 and 2019. According to the study, the KVB had significantly expanded its on-call service since 2018, which would also explain the decline in the number of patients in the clinics. The KVB driving service meanwhile recorded a decline of 14 percent.
The number of patients will continue to increase. The study participants expect 34,000 cases (nine percent) by 2030 and 60,000 more cases per year by 2040. For KVB practices, an increase of 12,876 cases (8.2 percent) is expected by 2030 and by 2040 an increase of 23,386 cases.