FPÖ - Kaniak zu Rauch: "The shortage of doctors is a massive problem that must be solved and must not be talked away!"

2023-07-08 11:40:59

In the “Presse” interview, the Green Health Minister denies the lack of doctors and thus ignores reality

Vienna (OTS) – The liberal health spokesman and chairman of the parliamentary health committee NAbg. Mag. Gerhard Kaniak the statements of the Green Health Minister Rauch in a current interview with the daily newspaper “Die Presse”, according to which there is “not a lack of doctors, but of health”. “The shortage of doctors in the public health system is a manifest problem, the consequences of which are felt in people’s everyday lives and affect their health care. Admission freezes in medical practices, overcrowded hospitals and long waiting times are the sad reality and direct consequences of the short-sighted black-green health policy. In the next twelve years, around 17,000 doctors will even retire!” says Kaniak.

The fact that the Federal Government and the Minister of Health do not want to tackle major problems in the health system was also shown by the amendment to the Primary Care Act, which was passed in the National Council this week against the votes of the FPÖ: “The additional financial resources and small changes are simply not enough. That is why we Liberals have also submitted an application for additional health insurance contract positions for individual and group practices, which requires an immediate revision of the health structure plan, the priority of filling positions for statutory health insurance physicians in rural areas, including the statutory obligation to fill positions for the ÖGK within one year, the possibility of setting up primary care centers independently by general practitioners and the integration of elective doctors into the health insurance system by lifting the ban on double employment. However, this application was rejected by all other parties!”

The liberal health spokesman also referred to the six-point plan he presented weeks ago to eliminate the shortage of staff in the health system, which also included enabling older doctors to continue working and the creation of additional training positions. “We also need a nationwide uniform scholarship system, a significant expansion of the number of places on offer and more and more attractive training places in the hospitals. All of these liberal demands are effective in terms of care and would ensure that our health system is brought back into shape in terms of the best possible care for Austrians – they just have to be implemented at last,” explained NAbg. Mag. Gerhard Kaniak.