Due to staff shortage

Expensive temporary doctors keep emergency room alive

External doctors are now helping out at the Amstetten Regional Hospital

(Bild: P. Huber)

In Amstetten, expensive external doctors have to be recruited to keep the hospital's emergency department running. The SPÖ is writing an open letter to the state.

The hospital in Amstetten cannot rest - or more precisely: its emergency room. As reported, there have been massive staffing problems there for some time. For example, doctors who have not yet completed their training are said to be left to their own devices. "This poses a massive health risk," the SPÖ in the district capital has already sounded the alarm.

The medical staff in the hospital are exposed to an overtime workload that has now reached intolerable proportions.

Gesundheitsstadträtin Beate Hochstrasser im offenen Brief

In order to cope with the bottleneck, the Provincial Health Agency (LGA) now seems to be reaching deep into its pockets. This is because "medical resources" are now being purchased, as the LGA confirms. In other words, doctors who normally work in clinics outside of Lower Austria or in private practice are being brought to Amstetten via external service providers. And they cost money. Allegedly a lot of money. Although the LGA does not answer questions about this and emphasizes that it is a short-term measure to relieve staff, there is talk of amounts many times higher than what "normal" doctors earn there.

The Amstetten SPÖ has now written an open letter to Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner as a result of the grievances. "Immediate measures are needed to ensure patient care," it says.