Cologne (dpa / lnw) – University hospital employees have pointed out the dangers of staff shortages in hospitals with dramatic reports from their everyday lives. In a packed church in Cologne on Monday, several employees read anonymous texts that the organizers said had been written by colleagues. They should clarify what it means for patients to be understaffed and what it is like for employees to be exposed to such situations.
There was talk of “assembly line work” in which there was no time for mourning. A corona patient died alone because it was impossible to keep him company due to the staff situation. “I had to watch the patient die from outside because there weren’t enough staff,” the text said. Sometimes there is no time for food or drinks. Many other impressive experiences were described.
The background to the action known as the “Schwarzbuch Hospital” is the ongoing collective bargaining dispute at the NRW university hospitals. With strikes, Verdi and employees have been putting pressure on negotiations with employers about a so-called collective bargaining agreement for weeks.
Several clinics responded to the action. “The anonymous descriptions contained in the “Schwarzbuch Hospital” do not contain any specific information about the respective hospitals, the time of the event or the people involved. In this respect, it is not possible to assign and thus process the content of the cases described,” said a spokesman for the Cologne University Hospital . However, employees could report critical situations in several ways. “In all cases, we are looking for ways to remedy the situation immediately.”
