Fighting the shortage of doctors

“Those who study here should work here”

Health check: not always easy in rural regions.

(Bild: Robert Kneschke)

The FPÖ's recipe for combating the shortage of doctors in Lower Austria: keeping medical graduates in the state for longer, integrating elective doctors and fair pay. Health spokesman Richard Punz explains the plans.

"We want the best healthcare system for the country," explains FPÖ health spokesman Richard Punz. The politician from the Mostviertel region continues: "That's why we need to start with health promotion and invest in prevention and early detection." According to Punz, it is better if illnesses can be treated early and are less severe or, ideally, if a doctor is not needed at all.

Something must be done quickly! We say: those who pay into the healthcare system must receive the best care.

Richard Punz, FPÖ-Gesundheitssprecher

On the subject of the shortage of doctors: According to Punz, existing resources must be used, be it by continuing to employ older statutory health insurance doctors or by integrating elective doctors into the health insurance system. This must be achieved through incentives, not constraints and prohibitions.

More study places as a solution?

"We also need more university places and, above all, incentives to ensure that those who study here also work in Austria," says the mandatary In terms of payment, additional services should really be worthwhile and not be eaten up by taxes.

In conclusion, Punz criticizes: "The SPÖ and ÖVP have made the system sick at federal level over the past decades and there are fewer and fewer benefits left for our fellow countrymen."