Währing sounds the alarm: lack of statutory health insurance doctors endangers health!

Währing sounds the alarm: lack of statutory health insurance doctors endangers health!

The situation of medical care in Währing is becoming more and more critical: Many residents are faced with a real challenge because the search for statutory health insurance doctors is often extremely arduous. The SPÖ Währing has therefore launched a petition to draw attention to these grievances and demand improvements. Around 400 supporters have already signed to campaign for more cash registers in the 18th district. Michael Trinko, the chairman of the SPÖ Währing, reported that over 300 signatures had been collected in a short time.  My district reports that the shortage of statutory health insurance physicians has a direct impact on appointment capacity, which results in long waiting times for many Währingers.

But Währing is not alone in the fight for better health care. There is a need for sufficient statutory health insurance physicians to provide timely and affordable medical care throughout Vienna. The city of Vienna has announced that it will open a total of 29 new health centers by 2030, with three also planned in Währing. A center for children's health has already been opened at Kreuzgasse 27, while two more for general medicine will follow. These developments are urgently needed because the number of statutory health insurance physicians in Vienna is at a record low of just 1,546. That is a quarter less per capita than 15 years ago. The SPÖ Währing emphasizes that access to basic medical care should not depend on income and that older and poorer people in the population in particular are often disadvantaged.

Growing challenges

The challenges in the healthcare sector should not be underestimated. How Today notes, the past few years have resulted in around 300,000 new residents being added to Vienna, while the number of statutory health insurance physicians has continuously fallen. This leads to untenable conditions, particularly in disciplines such as pediatrics and gynecology. Many payer positions are unstaffed or inactive, meaning existing doctors are stretched to their limits and waiting times for patients are skyrocketing.

Politicians see themselves as being challenged here: The ÖVP suggests setting up more primary care centers in order to relieve the burden on hospital outpatient clinics. Daniel Resch from the ÖVP even called for the districts to receive their own budget to support cash registers in order to take targeted action where the need is greatest.

The ongoing discussion about health care in the 18th district and beyond shows that it is high time for more statutory health insurance doctors to be available in order to provide the people of Währingen with attractive health care. The collected signatures for the petition will soon be handed over to Agnes Streissler-Führer, chairwoman of the regional office committee of the Austrian Health Insurance Fund Vienna (ÖGK). She emphasizes that it is necessary to bring more family doctors as well as nursing and therapist teams to the district in order to increase the visibility of medical offers and enable faster appointments for patients.