Schwerin (dpa/mv) - In view of the bottlenecks in German children's hospitals due to the current wave of colds, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig is calling for the abolition of the case-based flat-rate system in pediatric and adolescent medicine. The SPD politician demanded that the treatment be paid for adequately on Monday in Schwerin. "The previous system has meant that child and adolescent medicine has been severely weakened."
In addition, upkeep costs for good care must also be taken into account in tense situations. "We've been pointing out these problems for years." Two years ago, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania launched a Federal Council initiative to put the financing of children's clinics on a new footing. The background is that more and more children's wards are being closed in rural areas because they are not economical from the point of view of the hospital operators.
In children, respiratory diseases are currently increasing nationwide, mainly due to RS and flu viruses. Children's hospitals are reaching their limits. The cabinet in Schwerin wants to deal with the situation this Tuesday and assess the situation for MV, as a spokesman for the State Chancellery said. The hospital beds for children in MV are still not scarce like in other federal states, it said. Small patients from Hamburg and Berlin are currently also being admitted to MV.
