The German Society of Interdisciplinary Emergency and Acute Medicine DGINA  had conducted a survey in July 2022. Now the dramatic result is available.

The survey showed:

• In 86 percent of the houses was a shortage of normal inpatient beds,
• in 54 percent of intensive care beds and
• in 48 percent of intermediate care beds (IMC).

The main reasons for this are: Staffing and bed shortages, and overcrowding.

Emergency department overcrowding

Two-thirds of participating hospitals noted “dangerous overcrowding in the emergency department” on the day of the survey because patients could not be transferred to a ward for further treatment. At the same time, there was a persistent influx of new patients via the ambulance service despite capacity exhaustion.

Staff shortages in emergency clinics

The situation is currently exacerbated by a high sickness rate: as before, many doctors and nurses are absent due to Corona, and even if the vast majority have no significant symptoms, their colleagues are missing them due to quarantine. But it is also a fact that many emergency clinics are looking for nurses to strengthen the local teams in the long term and prevent such bottlenecks in the future.