The SPÖ pensioners association locates the government’s inaction in the area of care and warns of an impending emergency. “When it comes to the shortage of nursing staff, it is no longer five before, but five after 12. The shortage of staff is already clearly noticeable. And it will get even worse,” warned the President of the Pensioners’ Association, Peter Kostelka. The NEOS are also missing actions on the part of the government, as health spokesman Gerald Loacker said.
“The government must now finally take the necessary steps, otherwise there is a risk of renewed care emergency with chaos at the expense of those in need of care and their relatives,” said Kostelka in a broadcast on Saturday. New staff urgently need to be trained, he demands. “Here we must now especially use the potential of those people who have lost their jobs as a result of Corona or are thinking of changing their careers.”
Specifically, there is a need for comprehensive, free training, retraining and further training opportunities, financial support during training, an attractive, fair starting salary and a “healthy” working environment through regular working hours and sufficient rest times. “We need 100,000 more people in the care sector by 2030.” The “long-term care reform that was announced over four years ago” must finally be implemented, says Kostelka.
“The nursing care reform has been announced for years and minister after minister is said to be about to present it, Sebastian Kurz presented a ‘Materplan Pflege’ in 2018. Now it is clear again that there are still no plans and no coordination between the ministries. Those affected and caregivers cannot buy anything from announcements and press conferences, “Loacker criticized. He referred to parliamentary questions, the answer to which it emerged that there were fewer newcomers to the nursing profession.