/image alliance, Maurizio Gambarini
Berlin – Psychiatric and psychosomatic institutions are assessing their economic situation at the turn of the year 2023/2024 very critically. This shows that Psychiatric Barometer from the German Hospital Institute (DKI).
According to this, only 17 percent of specialized psychiatric and psychosomatic clinics and ten percent of psychiatric departments of general hospitals rate their economic situation as “reasonably good”. 62 percent of departmental psychiatric hospitals and 40 percent of institutional psychiatric hospitals state that the situation is “rather unsatisfactory”. 41 percent of institutions report “critical liquidity”.
When asked about expectations for 2024, most institutions expect the economic situation to worsen. The main reasons are the increase in material and personnel costs, which institutions cannot refinance with their income.
Many hospitals also view the Psychiatry and Psychosomatics Directive (PPP-RL), the specifications of the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) for the necessary therapeutic personnel. In the first three quarters of 2023 surveyed, no professional group managed to meet the minimum requirements of the directive in all quarters, it is said.
The level of achievement was lowest in care (44 per cent). It was highest among psychotherapists (83 per cent). The main obstacles to the implementation of the PPP Directive remain the shortage of skilled workers and inadequate credit rules for both skilled and unskilled workers in meeting the minimum requirements.
From the perspective of the German Hospital Society (DKG), it is now the turn of politics. It is called upon to “ensure patient care in psychiatric care through effective debureaucratization and greater flexibility in the distribution of staff,” said DKG board chairman Gerald Gaß.
The report also shows that psychiatric and psychosomatic facilities are increasingly committed to greater sustainability. Facilities focus mainly on energy supply (82 percent), structural adjustments (81 percent) and heat supply (77 percent).
Other important areas include procurement, mobility, personnel, climate change adaptations, supply chains, refrigeration and food supply. There are opportunities for improvement, especially in CO capture.two-Emissions.
The results of the Psychiatry Barometer 2023/2024 are based on a survey conducted in hospitals specializing in psychiatry and psychosomatics, as well as in general hospitals with departments specializing in psychiatry or psychosomatics. It was conducted from December 2023 to March 2024. A total of 272 institutions participated. © may/EB/aerzteblatt.de