"Important contribution"

ÖGK chairman supports Hacker’s elective doctor proposal

ÖGK chairman Andreas Huss (pictured) sees the initiative by Vienna's SPÖ health councillor Peter Hacker as an "important contribution to the discussion".(Bild: APA/Tobias Steinmaurer)

The Austrian Health Insurance Fund (ÖGK) supports the announcement of a ban on elective doctors for Viennese hospital doctors by SPÖ City Councillor for Health Peter Hacker. ÖGK chairman and employee representative Andreas Huss saw the initiative as an "important contribution" on Sunday.

Of course, such a change would only make sense if it applied to all fund hospitals throughout Austria, as otherwise doctors would move to other federal states, said Huss.

"We are currently negotiating with the staff representatives as part of the second staff package. I have nothing against elective doctors. But anyone who works part-time in the public healthcare system is committed to this system," said Hacker.

I have nothing against elective doctors. But anyone who works part-time in the public healthcare system is committed to this system.

SPÖ-Gesundheitsstadtrat Peter Hacker

"So you can work 20 hours in a hospital and 20 hours in a primary care center. But ten hours in a public hospital and the rest in a private practice will no longer be possible in future," says Hacker, who wants to end the practice of doctors working only a few hours in a public hospital and the rest in a private practice at the turn of the year.

ÖGK Chairman: "Important contribution to the discussion"
 Such a change would of course have to be negotiated between the social partners, as is usual in Austria, emphasized ÖGK Chairman Huss. Hacker's "important contribution to the discussion" focuses above all on "the two central tasks of hospitals".

"In addition to patient care, hospitals are also responsible for training doctors. This would come to a standstill if more and more doctors were to go into part-time work or private practice. This is because no doctors are trained there. This would create a real problem for the next generation of doctors, both in hospitals and in private practices," warned Huss.

Fierce criticism from the Vienna Medical Association
Hacker received fierce criticism from the Medical Association: "An enforced restriction of professional freedom will drive even more doctors away from hospitals forever," said Medical Association President Johannes Steinhart on Saturday. The younion trade union expressed its "surprise" and objected to "negotiating positions in advance via the media".