Erfurt (dpa/th) – The Thuringian CDU parliamentary group has called for more rapid recognition of the degrees of foreign doctors. “A foreign doctor needs a year and a half in Thuringia for his approval. It takes eight weeks in Hesse. This is an intolerable situation,” said the health policy spokesman for the CDU parliamentary group, Christoph Zippel, on Saturday. Thuringia’s migration officer, Mirjam Kruppa, recently criticized how long it takes for professional qualifications to be recognized in Thuringia. The state government’s hopes for an acceleration lie in the creation of a state migration office.
In view of the lack of doctors in rural areas, Zippel also called for speed in the introduction of a country doctor quota and a reactivation of parts of the “over 4,000 doctors who are currently not working”. In his opinion, processes in practices should be made less bureaucratic, “new forms of medical care such as the tele-emergency doctor could also provide relief,” says Zippel.
At the end of January, Thuringia’s Health Minister Heike Werner (left) presented a first draft law to introduce the country doctor quota in Thuringia. According to the plans of the state government, six percent of the study places for human medicine at the University of Jena are expected to go to applicants from the winter semester 2024/25 who have previously committed themselves to at least ten years of practice as a general practitioner in a region in Thuringia where there is a shortage of doctors.
Such models already exist in several other federal states. The draft law is also intended to implement a state parliament resolution from 2020 that called for such a quota.
Zippel warned of the consequences of demographic change in the health sector. “Demographic change is hitting the health care system head-on. The need for medical treatment is growing across the country, but the average age of resident doctors is well over 50. There is a big hole in basic care here in the near future,” said Zippel. The health system is on the verge of collapse.
According to a forecast published by the State Office for Statistics at the end of January, only around 1.92 million people will live in Thuringia in 2042 – and thus around 183,100 fewer people than in 2021. According to this, more people will die in Thuringia than children will be born.
