While thought to be one of the best healthcare systems in the world, a recent survey has revealed that people in Germany want more from public health. The quality of treatment and behaviour of doctors lie at the heart of the increasing dissatisfaction.
Only 51 percent of people in Germany are satisfied with the standard of care available in the country’s hospitals and clinics. Those are the results of a representative survey recently carried out by business consultancy firm PwC as part of its 2022 Healthcare Barometer. In the company's 2021 survey, 63 percent said that available care was up to scratch.
According to PwC, the coronavirus pandemic and underfunding of hospitals are responsible for the attitude shift seen in the annual survey. Many local clinics have been closing down across Germany, during 2022 at the rate of one a month. While politicians are defending the closures as an economic necessity, many locals are having to drive over 100 kilometres to access doctors and emergency care.
The survey also asked respondents how they judge the quality of German healthcare on a world stage. During the first wave of the pandemic, 72 percent of respondents said they believed that Germany’s healthcare system was within the top three best national services in the world. In 2022, the figure dropped to 57 percent.
Just 37 percent of participants said they were satisfied with how doctors treated them. If they were dissatisfied, respondents were also asked more specific questions about what they thought needed to be improved.
36 percent of patients believed that the doctor spent too little time on their appointment. 22 percent felt that doctors didn’t take their queries seriously and 17 percent thought that the doctors they were visiting were not competent enough.
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