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Status: 07.09.2020 2:12 pm – NDR 1 Lower Saxony
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Health Minister Reimann has announced the end of the care chamber. (File image)
Lower Saxony Health and Social Affairs Minister Carola Reimann (SPD) announced on Monday afternoon that the controversial care chamber would be dissolved. In a member poll, 70.6 percent of the participants spoke out against the continued existence of interest representation. “This result is clear,” Reimann said, according to a statement from her ministry. “The Chamber of Nursing is clearly not the form of representation that nurses in Lower Saxony would like.” Out of around 78,000 eligible voters, only 15,100 had completed their questionnaires.
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Refund of contributions “as soon as possible”
Based on “these very clear numbers, the liquidation of the care chamber will begin immediately,” Reimann said. A corresponding bill is being worked on. In this context, the reimbursement of membership fees will begin. “This should also happen as quickly as possible.” The reasons for the error could not yet be named. The chamber failed to become a mouthpiece for the profession. “As a ministry, we will do everything we can to make sure that health workers continue to be heard, more than we have in the past,” Reimann said.
Minister of Health under pressure
The current development could have political consequences. The aim of the survey was originally to legitimize the self-administration of nursing staff, as reported by NDR 1 Lower Saxony. Instead, the survey now ends. Even before the announcement of the dissolution, the FDP and the AfD asked the minister to resign because she had failed to get the chamber into calm waters. The survey itself struggled too – it took three attempts to start and ended with less than 25 percent participation.
Participation “a disaster for the minister”
Meanwhile, the Chamber of Nursing had also lost the support of the Greens, who had decided as a coalition partner of the SPD in 2017. The turnout was “a disaster for the minister” and does not make sense, said the spokeswoman for the policy of attention to the Greens, Meta Janssen-Kucz. “The disastrous result of the survey on the nursing chamber in Lower Saxony was predictable. It documents the total failure of the state government.” She harshly criticized Reimann and Prime Minister Stephan Weil (SPD). Since its founding, it has been lost to strengthen the chamber of nursing and therefore the nursing profession in Lower Saxony.
Massive resistance from the start
Since its founding in 2017, the chamber of care has fought against massive opposition. Tens of thousands of nurses took to the streets in front of the chamber. They criticized the obligation to affiliate as Mandatory membership. An unclear staggering of chamber contributions repeatedly caused problems and in December 2019 it was abolished. The state took over the contributions retrospectively from 2018 to 2020. After that, the president had to leave: Sandra Mehmecke offered to resign, Nadya Klarmann succeeded her.
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