The hospitals in Vienna are at the limit. The workload for doctors is too high, there is a shortage of nursing staff and there are hardly any free beds. “The patients are in the corridor to die,” said Stefan Ferenci, vice president of the Vienna Medical Association. And: “We have to triage, as it wasn’t even in the days of Covid.” But the doctors’ call for help is rejected by politicians.
As “ORF” writes, 75 percent of doctors in a survey by the Vienna Medical Association complain that the workload is too high. As doctors grapple with bureaucracy, lines get longer and longer. According to Ferenci, waiting times of up to seven hours are part of everyday life in the hospital.
The situation has deteriorated significantly in recent weeks. According to “Oe24”, guest patients are no longer accepted unless treatment is urgently needed. In other cases, according to the decision of the Vienna Health Association, the home countries are responsible for the care.
No time for patients – doctors have to triage
63 percent of the doctors surveyed complain that they don’t have enough time for patients. The bad consequence: you have to decide whose life you want to save (triage). “For the first time I had to think: for whom do I turn off the ventilator if I need it for an emergency?”, says a doctor who wishes to remain anonymous to the “Kurier”. He refused nine ambulances in one night “because there were no more intensive care beds available,” he says. What happened to the patients after that is unclear.
“Satisfaction is at its lowest point, stress is at its peak,” says Ferenci in an interview with “Puls24”. That is fatal, because when doctors are overtired, the susceptibility to error increases, says Ferenci.
Politicians denied calls for help from doctors
“I think that as part of a propaganda measure by the Medical Association, stories are being told here that are not based on anything,” explains Peter Hacker, Vienna’s municipal councilor for health and member of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) in a statement. interview with “Puls24”. He doesn’t think the situation in intensive care is that bad. “I now expect information from the medical association,” he says, “and that they don’t just spread rumors.”
Hacker is not alone in downplaying the situation. The Austrian Minister of Health Johannes Rauch is in regular contact with the state hospitals. “I have not received any reports from the states that conditions there are particularly dramatic,” he says, but also emphasized that the ministry is reviewing the current situation.
Meanwhile, the Vienna Health Association has stated that hospitals are currently under severe pressure. The reason for this is the triple wave consisting of RSV, corona and flu infections. (jwg)