Not enough staff
Corona expert warns of “blocking beds” in the hospital
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The Corona situation is coming to a head again: An expert now fears a “bed closure” in clinics due to a lack of staff.
It sniffles and coughs wherever you hear it: the great autumn chorus of infections is on tour in trains, buses and offices. The large number of illnesses – be it a cold or corona – also causes staff shortages everywhere. Now the hospitals are sounding the alarm. Because there could be bottlenecks again this winter.
The intensive care doctor Christian Karagiannidis found clear words to the “Rheinische Post”. He warns of so-called “bed closures” due to staff shortages. If there are no nurses to look after patients, beds cannot even be occupied. And currently the absences are already piling up, says Karagiannidis: “Before Corona, many employees lay in bed once a year after Carnival with a virus, the flu. Currently, several serious waves of infection are running through the staff at short intervals, and we fear that Corona will also be joined by the flu,” he explains.
Karagiannidis is a member of the German government’s Corona Expert Council. The waves of infection hit the already precarious situation of care. You are already struggling with the currently lowest number of intensive care beds that are looked after by staff – because the latter is simply missing. In winter, the expert fears that regular care in the hospital will be restricted as the number of patients increases.
Infectious diseases in winter: what to do yourself
Staff shortages in nursing have been a political and social issue for years. Ultimately, however, everyone can do something to break up acute waves of infection: by letting people with cold symptoms stay at home. Regardless of whether it is an infection with a cold or the corona virus, you reduce the risk of infecting your fellow human beings – among whom there may still be risk groups.
Sources used: Rheinische Post, RTL.de