Because doctors are missing

Health checks in schools are wobbling

18 percent of schools in Salzburg no longer have a doctor on a regular basis.

(Bild: www.viennareport.at)

Due to the shortage of school doctors, the state wants parents with children to go to mother-child health checks for longer. An extension up to the age of 18 is being considered as one measure, as is higher remuneration. Screening examinations would then be history.

School doctors are urgently needed in Salzburg, especially in rural areas. As reported, the state is currently looking for doctors at 54 out of 293 locations to work in schools on a contract basis. Flachgau stands out, with 32 compulsory schools looking for doctors.

In Cornelia Ecker's municipality of Bürmoos, there has long been no doctor for either the primary or secondary school. "The principals and I keep asking for support from the state, but nothing comes back," explains the SPÖ mayor in response to an inquiry from Krone. She suspects that one reason for this is that the salaries are too low.

Our two GPs are working at the limit. They probably wouldn't have the capacity to go into the schools as well.

Cornelia Ecker, Ortschefin von Bürmoos

Bild: Tschepp Markus

But there's more to it than that. In rural areas, GPs take on school care - if they want to and are able to. This is not the case for many. "Our two GPs are working at the limit. It's the same in St. Georgen. They can't take on any more new patients," says Ecker. No wonder they can't be there for the schoolchildren. However, the health insurance company does not envisage a third GP post for Bürmoos, and the adults in Bürmoos are also trembling, as one of the two GPs will soon be retiring.

Working group delivers proposals 
In June, on the initiative of the SPÖ, all parties instructed the provincial government to improve school medical care. What has happened since then? According to ÖVP state health councillor Daniela Gutschi, a working group has proposed an increase in fees for school doctors, among other things. The working group also recommends examining an extension of parent-child pass examinations up to the age of 18. Gutschi: "This would mean that annual screenings at schools would no longer be necessary. The school doctors could concentrate on specific questions from schools about individual pupils or topics." The federal government has also been asked to improve the social legal framework for the deployment of retired doctors.