Frustration in Gotha: Waiting for the ENT doctor for over two hours!

Frustration in Gotha: Waiting for the ENT doctor for over two hours!

Gotha, Deutschland - The search for a doctor's appointment is a tough test for many people. An impressive example of this is the experience report of a patient from Gotha, who asked an ENT practice on February 8, 2025. After waiting almost five months, he finally received an appointment on June 24, 2025, only to find out that he had to spend over two hours in the overcrowded waiting room before he had to stop his appointment due to time constraints. In the end, he was offered a new appointment for October 24, 2025, which raised questions about the meaningfulness of the allocation of appointments, especially for short studies. He expressed lack of understanding of the long waiting time and found that many practices in Gotha no longer accept new patients. This situation throws a light on the general tense appointment in the region and makes many patients despair. Gotha Aktuell reports of the need for a fair medical care.

While patients in the waiting room are waiting frustrated for their appointment, there are efforts to improve the situation at the political level. The new government plans to introduce a primary doctor system to optimize the allocation of appointments for specialists. The goal is clear: leading patients to suitable specialists faster and avoiding superfluous doctor visits. According to this new system, the family practice will receive the first point of contact for the patients who are examined there and, if necessary, transfers to specialists. This reform is intended to help reduce the rush in specialist practices and at the same time to make medical care more efficient. The big parties such as CDU, CSU and SPD agree that a primary doctor system is urgently necessary to improve the supply situation, as well as pharmacy Umschau reported.

The gap between health insurance patients and privately insured

Another topic that is repeatedly discussed in this context is the different treatment of health insurance patients and privately insured persons. As can be seen from the experience in Hamburg, health insurance patients often have enormous difficulties to get an appointment with urologists promptly. In these cases, patients often wait weeks or months, while privately insured persons often get an appointment within two weeks. This is particularly problematic for people who do not have the necessary change or are civil servants. Süddeutsche Zeitung sums up this injustice and reveals the urgent reform needs in the health system.

A planned reform like the primary doctor system could improve the situation for many patients in theory. However, it remains to be seen whether hope will be fulfilled to actually shorten the waiting times. Critics warn that general practitioners may quickly be overloaded, which jeopardizes the help for those who need them most urgently. Questions of emergency care must also be taken into account. It remains exciting to observe how the planned changes in the health system will affect appointments and medical care for the population.