Doctors and hospitals to watch for in the Corona-crisis, a worrying Trend. Out of fear of infection is very much less patients with acute treatment needs in the clinics.
“We note that diagnoses such as stroke, suspected heart attack or appendicitis have significantly declined,” says Siegfried Hasenbein, managing Director of the Bavarian hospital society in Munich. The same applies for cancer patients.
Patients remain with serious problems at home
Accurate statistics are not yet available, but physicians have to register the phenomenon in Germany:
“We have very much less patient with urgency symptoms,” says lung cancer specialist Niels Reinmuth, chief of Thoracic Oncology at the Asklepios clinic in Gauting near Munich. “This is something that we’ll all be watching.”
A main reason is probably fear: “The fear of being infected, is not apparently so great that many prefer to go to the doctor,” says a spokesman for the German hospital society in Berlin.
From a medical point of view, this is worrying. “Our concern is that we will get in the summer, many patients would be better come four months earlier,” says Reinmuth.
Cardiologists have discussed whether Germany could be imminent, according to Corona, a wave of heart weakness, such as a Munich-based specialist reports.
“You really have to urge: do not Stay with serious problems at home,” says the oncologist.
Reduced Practice Operating
In 2018, there were 210.000 heart attacks and about 300,000 strokes in Germany. A reduction in these Figures due to the Corona epidemic all of a sudden, no one believes in the medical community.
Contributes to the phenomenon of the fact alleged, that many specialists in private practice have limited their practical operation, so that fewer patients will be transferred.
“But it must be avoided that fear of the Virus causes other diseases and deaths,” says a spokesman for the hospital Association of North Rhine-Westphalia in Düsseldorf.
The largest medical crisis in the last decades.for the hospitals in the past, the peculiar result of an exceptionally low level of capacity utilization
The feared wave of Corona patients is remained to the relief of all Stakeholders. All planned treatments – the so-called “elective” cases – were postponed.
The German hospital Association estimates that, nationwide, 150,000 beds are free.
Gradually return to regular operation is planned
Against this Background, the NDR also reported on cases of short-time work at clinics. According to the hospital Association, however, this is “not a nationwide phenomenon.”
For clinics no reason for short-time work exists, because there is a financial protection shield.
Federal Minister of health, Jens Spahn (CDU) referred to the due to the Corona pandemic adopted in hospital relief act.
Clinics get, therefore, kept free beds, a fee of 560 euros per day.
Spahn had announced last week that hospitals could return operation from the beginning of may step of the way “in a rule”.
The medical societies developed ideas for it, he said. “We don’t want to hold on to time 40 percent of intensive care ventilator beds in Germany. This is not necessary.”
Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa)
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