Difficult diagnosis: there is a lack of doctors in many places in Saxony

The shortage of doctors in Saxony remains a serious problem and a major challenge for state policy. "Many doctors are already overcoming age and strength limits in order to maintain care. It should not be a question of where people live as to whether and how quickly they receive medical help," said Left Party leader Susanne Schaper. With a growing proportion of older people, this is becoming increasingly important.

Schaper - a trained nurse - regularly enquires about the level of medical care in the state parliament. In 2024, too, some considerable gaps became apparent. In Werdau, it was only 69.8 percent for GPs, in Torgau 70.2 percent and in Reichenbach 72.4 percent. Riesa (78.4), Limbach-Oberfrohna (78.3) and Stollberg (74.1) are also considered "undersupplied regions" with a level of less than 80 percent.

Lack of child and adolescent psychiatrists and nuclear medicine specialists

The level of care is considered an indicator of a region's healthcare provision. It is calculated as a quotient of the actual ratio of inhabitants to doctors and the target ratio. A supply ratio of 100 percent indicates that there are as many doctors working in the planning area as are needed. In Saxony as a whole, the average ratio for GPs was 91.8 percent (previous year: 91.5 percent). 373 positions were unfilled (2023: 388).

The problem is also serious for child and adolescent psychiatrists. In the Upper Lusatia-Lower Silesia region, the coverage rate last year was only 51.8 percent, in the South Saxony region it was 58.3 percent. In Saxony as a whole, the average was 78.5 percent, according to the report. The situation is only slightly better for nuclear medicine specialists. Here, the figure for Saxony fell from 74.7 percent (2023) to 69.2 percent (2024) within a year.

"It is long overdue to create more study places for human medicine, dentistry and pharmacy and to recognize foreign degrees more quickly," demanded Schaper. Studies should be open to a larger number of suitable people. For example, A-level grades should no longer be the decisive factor for admission, but social skills should also play a role.

"If enough people are to decide to take over or run a practice, the conditions must be attractive. That's why it's right that health insurance companies should pay for almost every service provided in future," Schaper told the German Press Agency. Bureaucracy needs to be reduced and remuneration regularly adjusted.

General practitioners should be the first port of call

"We also want to ensure that general practitioners are generally the first port of call in the event of illness in order to make the best possible use of the healthcare system's resources. The most important demand is to think about all sectors together in future and no longer make separate policies for hospitals, GP practices, specialist practices, polyclinics or pharmacies," emphasized Schaper.