FDP Saar: Hospital plan must be revised as soon as possible. Correction in the area of stroke treatment particularly urgent.

In hospital planning, the Saarland state government relies on sitting things out rather than tackling problems. This view is expressed by the deputy chairman of the FDP Saar, Dr. Helmut Isringhaus. “Although urgent action is needed, Health Minister Magnus Jung does not seem in a hurry to end his summer break.” Isringhaus is convinced that the state government is steering health policy into a dead end if it sticks to the current hospital plan and does not revise it as soon as possible. Instead of promoting outpatient care centers, “there is a risk that money will continue to flow into hospital buildings that are no longer needed,” criticizes the FDP politician. He calls on Minister Jung to “immediately review all construction projects and work with the operators to find better solutions.”
There is particular urgency to stop the race among hospitals to obtain the designation of “supraregional stroke unit,” says Isringhaus. Saarland is well equipped with two such specialized stroke units at the University Hospital of Saarland and the Saarbrücken Clinic. Nevertheless, the hospital plan allows four other hospitals to establish supraregional stroke units. The disastrous result is that competing hospitals poach specialists from each other with large sums of money. “It must finally end that Saarland hospitals are allowed to open more special departments just because it is profitable,” says Isringhaus. “The focus must be on improving the quality of existing care.”