Press Release 66/2026
Shaping care for the future: Saarland presents care infrastructure report
Securing efficient, local, and affordable care is one of the central societal challenges of the coming decades. With the care infrastructure report presented today, Saarland is presenting a comprehensive inventory of the nursing care supply structures in the state for the first time, thereby creating an important basis for future political decisions.
“The question of how we will organize, finance, and reliably secure care for people in the future concerns not only those in need of care themselves. It affects families, relatives, municipalities, and ultimately our entire society,” said Saarland’s Health Minister Magnus Jung on the occasion of the introduction of the first SaarlandCare Infrastructure Report.
According to the findings of the care infrastructure report, the number of people over 75 in Saarland will increase by around 25 percent by 2040 – from 116,400 persons in 2021 to approximately 159,300 people. This also means that the demand for nursing care and supportive services will rise significantly. The number of elderly people is therefore continuously increasing, while at the same time the recruitment of skilled professionals remains one of the biggest challenges for the health and care system.
At the same time, most people in need of care wish to be cared for in their familiar home environment for as long as possible. Outpatient and home care therefore play a key role in future care provision.
Alongside the development of care structures, there is an intensive nationwide discussion about the future of long-term care insurance. Increasing co-payments in residential care are placing a growing burden on many affected individuals and their families. “From Saarland’s perspective, further reform steps at the federal level are therefore necessary. This particularly includes an effective cap on the financial burdens of people in need of care. Being in need of care must not become an unpredictable risk of poverty. Saarland therefore advocates for a so-called care cap that effectively limits co-payments in residential care and provides greater planning security for those in need of care and their relatives,” explains Jung.
The care infrastructure report is based on a multi-year analysis and participation process. The basis is an expert opinion by DIP GmbH in cooperation with AGP Social Research, which was presented at the end of 2023 as part of the Concerted Action Care Saar. The findings were supplemented by feedback from institutions, discussions with actors in the care sector, as well as practical experience.
The key findings include:
•Home care will continue to gain importance in the future.
•In the outpatient sector, there is basically a comprehensive care network.
•The number of elderly care workers has doubled between 2011 and 2021, but a structural increase in staff has not yet been achieved.
•The number of people to be cared for per nursing service is continuously increasing.
•There is a particular need for action in the field of young care.
•Nursing facilities mostly succeed in retaining their trainees long-term within the respective care areas.
•Many institutions consider the number of training positions to be sufficient, but report too few applications.
•International recruitment of skilled workers has not yet played a central role in all institutions.
The state government made strengthening nursing a priority of its work early in the legislative period. Initially, a dedicated staff unit was established, which has since evolved into a specialist department for nursing within the Ministry of Health, centrally consolidating the existing offices. With the Concerted Action for Nursing Saar (KAP Saar), a statewide network has been created that now brings together more than 360 actors from nursing, healthcare, science, associations, and administration. The goal is to sustainably strengthen nursing care and to recruit a total of 4,000 additional nursing staff for Saarland by 2030. Numerous measures of KAP are already showing effects, for example in training numbers. Nationwide, the number of trainees in nursing professions increased by eight percent in 2025 compared to the previous year, according to the Federal Statistical Office. Initial feedback from Saarland's nursing schools indicates a similar trend in the state.
With the program "Saar66," Saarland also focuses on health promotion, exercise, social participation, and early support for senior citizens. The goal is to help people live as independently as possible in their familiar environment for as long as possible. "Every month and every year in which people can live independently longer is a gain – for those affected themselves, for their relatives, and for our healthcare system as a whole," emphasized the minister.
The care infrastructure report makes it clear that Saarland is already well positioned in many areas, but at the same time faces significant challenges. The insights gained provide an important basis for proactively further developing care provision in the state.
“Good care requires reliable planning, a strong infrastructure, and sufficient skilled workers. With the nursing infrastructure report, we create the necessary data basis to make the right decisions for the future of care in Saarland,” Jung concluded.
