In mid-March, vaccination will be compulsory in the care sector. Previously, there was criticism of the “discretionary power” of the health authorities. Are there any staff shortages?
Berlin – The institution-related vaccination obligation officially comes into force on March 16th. However, almost six weeks before the deadline, there are still open questions about the specific implementation. Green * politician Janosh Dahmen therefore wants to sharpen.
The health policy spokesman for his group is considering amending the law. “If the impression arises that the scope for discretion leads to the enforcement of compulsory vaccination and thus patient protection being endangered, we have to go back to the law,” Dahmen told the ARD political magazine Panorama. Born in Berlin, he was involved in drafting the law.
Nursing vaccination requirement: Criticism of the discretionary powers of the authorities – “certainly a lot of arbitrariness”
This “discretionary leeway” that health authorities have when deciding whether to ban unvaccinated employees from their work has been criticized. It could possibly lead to the fact that the occupational vaccination requirement is not enforced. Because as soon as the law comes into force, employers must report their employees who are not vaccinated or have recovered to the responsible health authorities – but no further steps are planned. There is no obligation to dismiss unvaccinated employees. The Ministry of Health explained to ARD: “The respective health department then decides at its own discretion in individual cases (…) and will also take into account the personnel situation in the facility.”
It is questionable whether this process works in practice. Patrick Larscheid, head of the Berlin-Reinickendorf health department, spoke on ARD of a “really unbelievable situation”. It is a “completely wrong notion” that the health authorities have criteria to be able to say at all how many people have to work in a facility and whether employees can be dispensed with. “There is certainly a lot of arbitrariness involved.”
Nursing vaccination requirement: “Then we will not be able to operate beds”
For weeks there has been a lack of clarity as to how exactly unvaccinated nursing staff will be dealt with. Unions already fear negative consequences for the health care system if nurses were to be eliminated from mid-March. It is not yet possible to predict how many employees could lose the already scarce nursing care. Nursing services in Weilheim-Schongau in Upper Bavaria struck against that Munich Mercury however already alarm. Half of the nurses in the outpatient nursing service are not vaccinated*. Dahmen, meanwhile, seems to be prepared to accept the threat of staff shortages.
The health politician wants to stick to the fact that exceptions do not become the rule and that the law may be tightened if necessary. As a consequence, this also means that capacities in the clinics would have to be reduced: “If this means that staff who have the necessary qualifications and the necessary vaccinations are not available, then we will not be able to operate beds in those places.”
Dahmen also had to endure criticism of the Corona policy from a doctor colleague on Wednesday evening in the ARD talk “Maischberger”. (as/dpa) *Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA
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