[ad_1]
Who decides if crown patients should get a place in intensive care? And does it matter which hospital this or this seriously ill person is in?
Health Minister Alain Berset was very clear this week: German-speaking Switzerland and its hospitals would now have to give up non-urgent operations out of solidarity with French-speaking Switzerland. In Tagesschau’s interview on Western Swiss television, he even emphasized this with strong expressions. Because the first patients are being transferred to German-speaking Switzerland.
“The financial aspect is hidden”
But those responsible came to a different assessment: Zurich health director Natalie Rickli replied that there were still enough places in Zurich and eastern Switzerland. Half of the hospitals have reduced the operational program.
Eliminating it completely is disproportionate: “On the one hand, it is not necessary and, on the other hand, Federal Councilor Berset ignores the financial aspect.” With the operation halting in the spring, hospitals speak of billions in losses.
There is still room in intensive care units
In the intensive care unit of the Basel University Hospital, director Hans Pargger does not want to talk about fights or harsh tones: “Solidarity between hospitals is off to a good start. At first there were difficulties coordinating when to stop performing which operations. But that has now decreased, ”he says.
According to Pargger, almost half of the around 900 certified intensive care places are currently occupied by corona patients, but around 1,200 places are effectively ready for use. “It can’t be that in French-speaking Switzerland people are already sorting and saying we don’t have any more beds and in German-speaking Switzerland they are still doing planned operations and they still have beds,” says Pargger.
A decision is required throughout Switzerland
Therefore, the decision to classify yes or no should be made for the whole of Switzerland, suggests the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences (SAMS). “We all think it’s good when this kicks in in Switzerland,” says intensive care physician Pargger.
Specifically, it is the steering committee of the national coordination office. In addition to Pargger, other specialists in intensive medicine, hospitals and responsible federal and cantonal authorities are represented. “You keep moving patients until there are only a certain number of beds left in Switzerland. Only then would triage be recommended. “
Ethics professor Samia Hurst, who is vice chair of the Corona Scientific Task Force, now also sits on the steering committee.
The decision doesn’t get any easier
However, the specific triage decision, that is, who will be treated intensively and who will not, is made by the treatment team in the patient’s bed: “We are talking about treatment. There are no regulations, neither from the canton, from the AMW, nor from the federal government. It is the people at the bedside who must make this decision. That makes it so difficult, ”says Pargger.
Despite all these preparations, the hope remains that things never get that way in Switzerland.
