During a press conference on Friday, Caritas called for system reforms in the healthcare sector. What is needed is long-term financing, higher salaries for staff and uniform framework conditions throughout Austria (see video above). But there are no easy solutions in the healthcare sector, says Caritas President Michael Landau.
According to him, 127,000 people currently work in nursing and care. There are more of these than ever before. However, due to democratic developments, this number is still not sufficient. By 2030, 75,000 additional skilled workers are needed.
Demand for training in the nursing sector has increased since the introduction of the training grant and nursing bursaries, Secretary General Anna Parr said on Friday. These should therefore be further offered and expanded, for example to the technical college sector. Moreover, nurse training must be funded by the government.
Family-unfriendly schedules, intervene
To ensure that people keep their jobs, Caritas calls, among other things, for higher salaries and new workforce planning models intended to prevent family-unfriendly schedules and constant intervention. Landau also proposed a fund for the digitalization of nursing. Video telephony can be used to combat social isolation, but it is also conceivable for administration or documentation.
Caritas director Klaus Schwertner called for uniform standards. “In Austria, each state decides how people are cared for in their twilight years.”
Unions warn of burnout
On Friday, the GÖD and Younion unions also warned of increasing staff shortages in Austrian hospitals. The number of closed hospital beds has increased by 24 percent to 3,442 since May. Many nursing posts are unfilled and there are also no doctors. Added to this is the ‘flight to part-time work’.
The unions believe that a weekly working time of 37.5 hours is necessary and tax exemption from the 32nd hour. They announced that they would build up pressure and placed a man-sized matchbox, symbolizing staff burnout, in front of the Ministry of Health in Vienna.
Source: Krone
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