Alarm before hospital summit: Counteract the supply crisis now!

Health is not a bargaining chip

Austria's hospitals are at the limit of their capacity. Their employees give their all day after day to ensure the care of patients. However, without sufficient staff, planning security and stable financing, the quality of health care cannot be guaranteed in the long term. Ahead of the so-called hospital summit of health officers with the Minister of Health, the trade union vida is therefore appealing to the states to take responsibility and end the years of austerity policy.

No savings sacrifices at the expense of health

The reality in hospitals is alarming: beds are being reduced, wards are being merged, duty posts are being blocked – and this is happening at the same time as demand is growing. For example, in the area of nursing staff, the current personnel forecast assumes a shortage of up to 200,000 nursing staff by 2050. The direct consequence: longer waiting times, overburdened staff and increasingly unequal care depending on the state and place of residence of the patients. "Every reduction directly affects patients and employees. It is simply irresponsible to save on health, of all things," emphasizes Olivia Janisch, deputy chairwoman of the trade union vida and Federal Women's Chairwoman. "If you want uniform quality criteria throughout Austria, you have to invest in people - instead of in budget trickery." In addition, about 80% of all employees in the health care system are women. These would be disproportionately affected by the currently planned savings.

Clear quality and personnel requirements required

For years, the vida trade union has been calling for binding quality standards for all hospitals in Austria - regardless of the province in which patients are treated. This includes uniform care requirements that clearly define which human and technical resources are necessary for certain services. In addition, a statutory staffing ratio is essential to guarantee good care in the long term. This is to determine how many employees per patient must be on duty. That makes more sense than just counting beds . vida is committed to transparent control mechanisms so  that understaffing and noticeable overload are no longer concealed, but structurally eliminated. "We urgently need personnel standards that reflect the actual care expenditure – otherwise the system will continue to collapse under its own standards," emphasizes Harald Steer, vida health spokesman in Vienna and chairman of the works council of the Anton Proksch Institute.

Protection for those who point out dangerous abuses

Mistakes happen – especially where staff are overworked and processes are exhausted. The decisive factor is how it is handled. A clear demand of the trade union vida is therefore the establishment of a whistleblower platform for the healthcare sector, through which near misses or dangerous situations can be reported anonymously. "The goal of reporting systems is not punishment, but improvement. Transparency saves lives – concealment endangers them. Anyone who draws attention to grievances must be protected, not punished," said Janisch.

Federal states in responsibility

The union sees the state governments as having a duty to assume their responsibility : "As donors, the states and social insurance funds must set uniform requirements for hospitals instead of blaming each other," Steer notes. "Systems must serve those people who are in them." One thing is clear: The confusion of competences between the federal government, the states and social security must no longer be carried out on the backs of patients and employees in the health care system.

Health needs quality standards – for everyone

vida has been at the side of employees in the health and care sector for years and has drawn attention to grievances with numerous initiatives, petitions and campaigns. From the demand for recognition of heavy labour to the recent criticism of the abolition of the care bonus in Salzburg – the message remains the same: "Health is not an austerity exercise, but a service of general interest," says Janisch. And Steer adds: "We  do not expect headlines from tomorrow's summit, but results. Employees need relief, patients need qualitative standards. Both are only realistically possible with sufficient staff and a departure from the austerity policy. “

The core demands of the trade union vida at a glance

• End of the austerity policy in the health care system
• Binding personnel calculation models for all occupational groups in hospitals
• Setting up a whistleblower platform for near misses and overload notices