Lower Austrian MP continues to fight until employees have the best working conditions and patients receive the best care via e-card
Vienna (OTS/SK) – The reaction from the ÖVP Lower Austria and the ÖVP management of the Lower Austrian State Health Agency to yesterday’s press conference by the Control State Councilor and SPÖ NÖ boss Sven Hergovich as well as the Lower Austrian SPÖ top candidate for the National Council election, Rudolf Silvan, was strikingly violent. They took stock of their health tour, which took them across Lower Austria. Silvan is clearly on the side of the employees, patients and relatives: “We will not be silenced by threats of lawsuits from the ÖVP managers in the LGA and will continue to fight until the employees have the best working conditions and the patients :receive the best care via e-card!” ****
Hergovich and Silvan repeatedly criticized the management structure in the Lower Austrian State Health Agency, which caused additional annual administrative costs of 30 million euros due to the conversion of the old holding structure into the State Health Agency (LGA). The management apparatus has obviously been bloated, while the approximately 28,000 employees urgently need personnel support, said Silvan. He recommends that the LGA management should rather look after the well-being of the employees and patients instead of throwing around threats of legal action. Because of a lack of staff when colleagues are absent, employees mainly have to struggle with unplanned services. “The fear of your cell phone ringing on the weekend off is a constant companion; it is difficult for many colleagues to plan private appointments. I even know people who no longer have a private cell phone for precisely this reason,” reports the MP.
For Silvan, it is above all a question of respect for the employees in the health system and therefore improving their conditions right from the start of the training. He refers to the SPÖ plan for safe care:
- Higher wages, gradual reduction in working hours with full wage compensation and an additional week of rest for nursing staff.
- Carers should receive their hard work pension without exception, without the annoying calorie counting.
- Paid nursing training: Nursing students should receive 2,300 euros gross per month during the training, similar to training with the police, and the climate ticket for free.
- Free nursing training: Removal of technical college fees for the training of qualified nursing staff.
- More training places close to home for more nursing staff.
The majority of the 700 visitors to the SPÖ Lower Austria health tour confirmed that there is a problem in the health system, explains Silvan. The problems range from the lack of a statutory health insurance general practitioner in the community, to the statutory health insurance specialist who can no longer accept patients, to long waiting times for X-rays, MRIs and specialists. As part of the health tour, there were also reports of closed departments in the Lower Austrian state clinics and understaffed emergency units. In addition, patients also reported that they sometimes even paid for vital cancer operations themselves in order to receive timely care. (End) up
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