BERLIN, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- One in two pediatric hospitals in Germany is operating at or near maximum capacity and cannot take in all intensive care patients, the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (DIVI) warned on Thursday.
Children infected with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) were admitted particularly often recently, according to a survey of children's hospitals in Germany that was published during the annual DIVI Congress.
"This situation is getting worse every year and is being carried out on the backs of critically ill children," DIVI Secretary General Florian Hoffmann said. "This is a catastrophic situation, there is no other way to describe it."
After the closure of 40 percent of all pediatric intensive care beds due to staff shortages in recent years, there is currently less than one vacant pediatric intensive care unit bed available per site, according to the association.
To counter this trend, German doctors are demanding improved working conditions in children's hospitals. Measures should include the establishment of telemedicine networks between facilities as well as specialized pediatric intensive care transport systems, according to the DIVI.
There has been a shortage of nursing staff in the entire intensive care sector in Germany for years. In 2020, up to two out of three required positions were not filled, according to a recent study by the Hans Boeckler Foundation.
The shortage of skilled workers in Germany does not only affect the healthcare sector. Europe's largest economy was lacking more than half a million skilled workers across all occupational groups in mid-2022, according to the German Economic Institute (IW).
To tackle the issue, the German government decided on Wednesday to facilitate easier labor immigration. "We want skilled workers to come to Germany quickly and get a head start," Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser said when she presented the plans. "This is urgently needed." ■