Der Anaesthesist
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With the justification that the treatment and medical liability act suffers from a lack of transparency and reliability due to being characterized by many isolated decisions, in 2013 this was made into statute law in the form of the patients rights act in the German Civil Code (BGB). It was considered that "currently existing comprehensive rights of patients" would be strengthened through clarity and "legal transparency" and that the practical "implementation" would be improved. That this target will be achieved with these new statutory provisions is doubtful. ⋯ Furthermore, this has given rise to more bureaucratization of medicine with the compulsion to fulfil new formalities in clinics and doctors' offices. In this article the most important regulations for physicians will be presented and explained. Due to limited space and with due respect to the readership a subtle legal analysis of the regulations will be dispensed with.
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Only randomized clinical trials can improve the outcome of life-threatening injuries or diseases but observations from England and North America suggest that the number of such randomized clinical trials is decreasing. In this study contributions from German speaking countries with regards to randomized clinical trials in emergency medicine over the last 22 years were investigated. ⋯ A significant increase or decrease in the number of prospective randomized clinical trials in the out-of-hospital setting could not be found in German speaking countries despite the fact that the absolute numbers of studies had increased. Only about one prospective, randomized clinical trial with an emergency medicine core tracer diagnosis originated from Germany, Austria and Switzerland per year.
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How do physicians in the specialty of anesthesiology perceive the working conditions regarding stress and job satisfaction? The health system in Germany has been confronted with a rapidly changing framework over the last 20 years: For example, an increased influence of economic patterns on the workflow and the medical decision of physicians has been established forcing them to always take the economic aspects into account. Moreover, a new generation (generation Y) of physicians with other requirements of the work place, meaning mainly a demand for a better work-life balance, has gained a foothold in hospitals. These changes make it very important to investigate the status quo of current working conditions. ⋯ This study revealed a high prevalence of unfavorable working conditions for anesthetists in hospitals. Taking the forthcoming shortage of qualified physicians in German hospitals into account, these results have to be considered as a cause for concern. Constant unfavorable working conditions have a negative effect on the mental and physical health of employees. Sooner or later a migration of qualified physicians abroad could be the consequence. To prevent a future shortage of qualified physicians and to make the hospital work place more appealing, working conditions have to be adapted to current needs and expectations of employees. The focus should be put on balanced working conditions according to stress models shown in this study.