Intensive care physicians warn of bottlenecks in care

Intensive care physicians have warned of a steadily worsening staff shortage due to the corona pandemic. In the future, more beds could be blocked and fewer patients treated, said the President of the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (DIVI), Gernot Marx, of the Düsseldorf "Rheinische Post". Constant pressure, work out of a sense of duty and far beyond their own limits have brought many employees to their knees at some point. "They are sick, have reduced working hours or actually changed jobs," said Marx.

For the remaining teams, the situation became even more critical. "Unfortunately, the downward spiral cannot be stopped so quickly," warned the Divi President. In intensive care medicine, it is clearly stipulated that patients can only be cared for with a certain staff ratio. If this staff is missing, no further patients should be admitted, said Marx. That is why you can track the steadily decreasing number of operable intensive care beds in the Divi intensive care register.

Marx called for the introduction of more modern working hours that can be flexibly combined with family or older relatives. In addition, there is a need for binding duty rosters and psychosocial support for employees. “We absolutely have to strengthen the existing employees now. However, it is unlikely to increase staff in the short term, ”said the intensive care physician.