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Health debate: Telephone sick leave under pressure!
General practitioners defend telephone sick leave against employer criticism and emphasize its positive effect on patient care.
Health debate: Telephone sick leave under pressure!
In the midst of heated debates about telephone sick leave, the General Practitioners Association is steadfast in its defense of this system! Co-chair Nicola Buhlinger-Göpfarth leaves no doubt: “The introduction of the telephone AU made sense from a medical point of view” and relieves the burden on the often overburdened healthcare system. Since its introduction during the Corona pandemic, this regulation has established itself as one of the few successful political measures! Plans to eliminate this option jeopardize patient care, especially given the impending wave of infectious diseases!
The telephone AU – the proverbial child of the pandemic – offers patients the opportunity to get sick leave without having to physically come to the practice. A crucial regulation that was finally brought into being by the Federal Joint Committee in December 2023. If symptoms are mild and patients are already known to the practice, this telephone sick note can offer a quick solution. But the federal government and the Federal Association of Employers (BDA) are now calling for an end to this regulation in order to revive the “tried and tested procedure”.
Politics vs. health
Finance Minister Christian Lindner went one better with his statements! He announced that sick people would have to report to the doctor in person again in the future and warned of a “correlation between the annual sick leave in Germany and the introduction of the measure”. The employer representatives also see the possibility of abuse in the telephone AU and are calling for a return to traditional practice. But Buhlinger-Göpfarth counters sharply: “We cannot confirm the assumptions that people use the telephone AU to slim their feet from our daily work.” A heated argument about the topic of sick leave that stirs emotions!
The discussion about telephone sick leave is far from over. While some point out possible abuse, others stand resolutely by the patient's side. It remains to be seen what course politics will ultimately take and how this will affect medical care.