German hospitals urgently need better

German patients in hospitals are good, but not well enough treated. This is the result of a report by the federal office Quality Assurance (BQS), a panel of doctors, hospitals and health insurance. There were partly large differences in quality between hospitals. For 20 of a total of 194 reviewed quality indicators, the experts see even a "special needs".

There is need for improvement, according to the report, inter alia, in obstetrics. In many cases, was between the decision to emergency caesarean section and the birth of a child too much time has passed. In patients with pneumonia were received, was later recommended as the oxygen saturation in the blood were measured. This measurement is essential but because it allows an early diagnosis. In many hospitals also have people with Hüftbruch too long to wait for an operation. There are problems, according to Quality Report 2007 also in breast cancer surgery, with hip and knee surgery and gynecological procedures.

The managing director of the federal office, Christof Veit, said the clinics had their quality in many areas significantly increased. There were "things that urgently need to be improved." The causes were varied. "This can be stress, which can be organizational problems," said Veit. Federal Health Minister Ulla Schmidt (SPD) was in the "Bayerischer Rundfunk" pointed out that the patients with treatment in hospitals were mostly satisfied.

Which hospitals provide poor quality, is not in the Bereicht notices. This has to do with the fact that the survey initially covered only quality ratios. Why these figures in some cases bad, is initially not known. This is supported by the BQS always in a second step covered. Here, the hospital asked for an opinion. Only if the benefits criticized remain permanently poor, the name of the clinic published. This is in the present report is not the case.

The health insurance companies have criticized this practice. "We do not know whether the good will follow," said Axel Meeßen, an expert at the tip of the Health Insurance Association. He called for more transparency. The provinces would continue the dialogue with the lead very different hospitals. Even the representatives of the patients in the Joint Federal Committee of physicians, clinics and health insurance, Wolf-Dietrich isolator, demanded a more transparent supervision with the participation of the patient.

The quality report were almost 3.6 million records from more than 1,600 hospitals based. The data documenting well-fifth of the 17.1 million hospital care, it in 2007 in Germany.