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Shortage of doctors in Thuringia: 117 family doctor positions remain unfilled!
The Altmarkkreis Salzwedel is struggling with an increasing shortage of general practitioners, while specialists are still being sought. Measures to improve care are required.
Shortage of doctors in Thuringia: 117 family doctor positions remain unfilled!
In Thuringia, the situation in the healthcare system is getting worse. The Thuringia Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KVT) currently reports over 115.5 open contract doctor's offices for general practitioners, a problem that has been discussed in the region for some time. There is also an alarming increase in unfilled positions: at the beginning of 2024 there were still 97, currently there are already 117 open family doctor positions, as MDR reports.
The distribution of open family doctor positions is uneven and mainly affects urban and rural areas. There are 9.5 vacancies each in Gera-Stadt and Eisenach, while there are 8.0 unfilled seats in the Saalfeld/Rudolstadt/Bad Blankenburg district. In addition, there is a general undersupply of various specialists, such as ophthalmologists and neurologists, where there are several unfilled positions.
Demand for a higher quota of rural doctors
In order to ensure medical care in rural regions, the KVT is calling for an increase in the quota of rural doctors. This was only decided by the state parliament in the summer of 2022 and stipulates that 6 percent of the study places at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena will be reserved for prospective country doctors. Students must commit to practicing in rural areas for at least ten years. KVT chairwoman Annette Rommel proposes to increase this quota from 6 to 10 percent, which would mean that in the future a total of 29 students instead of 17 could study in Jena through this rural doctor quota. This could represent a real opportunity to reduce the impending shortage of doctors in rural regions, as more than 6.3 million cases are treated by Thuringian family doctors every year.
But the challenges don’t end there. The CDU parliamentary group also recognizes the problem and supports the proposals for rural doctor quotas. Christoph Zippel, a member of the CDU, describes the increasing number of unfilled family doctor positions as an acute problem that must be urgently addressed in order to ensure medical care for the population in the future.
Undersupply in specialist areas
The numbers speak for themselves: the KVT has pointed out specific bottlenecks in supply. There are numerous vacant positions for specialists in Thuringia, including 14.5 for ophthalmologists and also for neurologists and ENT doctors. A particularly hard-hit region is the Sonneberg district when it comes to ENT doctors. This imbalance in the system calls for effective solutions that include not only short-term measures, but also long-term strategies to increase the attractiveness of medical professionals in rural areas.
In order to counteract this negative development, the KVT also supports start-ups and takeovers of practices in regions with intensive needs with up to 60,000 euros. This could help to provide new impetus and attract young doctors to rural practice.
It remains to be seen whether these measures will bear fruit. However, one thing is certain: the discussion about medical care in Thuringia and the necessary reforms will continue to accompany us. Further information can be found at ÄrzteZeitung and InSüdthüringen.