Greifswald (dpa/mv) – Doctors in Greifswald want to exchange views on the challenges in the medical care of children and young people on Thursday. The annual conference of the North German Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine will deal, among other things, with the care of chronically ill children and emergency care in rural areas.
In the past, the system of flat rates per case was repeatedly criticized as insufficient for financing pediatric and adolescent medicine. In MV, there is also the fact that there are fewer children than elsewhere.
The Schwerin Minister of Health Stefanie Drese (SPD) explained: “In obstetrics and pediatrics we need a sustainable remuneration system for inpatient care that is as comprehensive as possible and of high quality and with sufficient staff.” According to the ministry, there are currently two Federal Council initiatives involving Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania that deal with the financing system. The federal government is called upon to develop a system outside of the case-based flat-rate system together with the health care system, said spokesman Alexander Kujat.
Referring to the hospital plan, Kujat explained that there are 16 hospitals in the country with a specialist department for pediatric and adolescent medicine with a total of 451 planned beds. In addition, there would be day clinic places, beds for pediatric surgery and specialist departments in the areas of child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy. A total of 25 planned beds were lost between 2010 and 2020. According to figures from the Federal Statistical Office, the number of hospital beds for pediatric and adolescent medicine fell even further. At the same time, the number of under-18s rose by around 30,000.
