27 March 2020 – Introduced various measures to support nursing employees and people in need of care

Intervention Categories: Legal and policy; Regulatory change; Finance policy and financial aid; Financial aid to health services
Level of Jurisdiction: National

Overview: The German Government introduced a set of measures to support nursing employees and people in need of care.

The nursing TÃœV will be suspended until the end of September 2020. If the nursing care insurance funds are informed about irregularities at individual facilities, however, inspections will continue to be carried out on an ad hoc basis.

By September, people in need of nursing care will be examined and classified accordingly on the basis of records and a conversation by telephone or video. This avoids unnecessary contact with the patients.

Additional personnel from Medical Services will be provided to relieve nursing facilities and hospitals with additional personnel. About 4,000 nurses and about 2,000 doctors work in the Medical Services.

Fewer personal visits will be made by nursing services to recipients of long-term care allowance. Nursing services are required by law to advise recipients of long-term care allowance at regular intervals and to check whether care at home is guaranteed. These obligatory visits are suspended. Consultations are still possible by telephone, digital or video.

Nursing homes must report coronavirus infections to the nursing care insurance fund. The facility and the nursing care insurance fund then coordinate their efforts to bridge bottlenecks flexibly with personnel from other areas.

Nursing facilities will be allowed to continue to operate, even if fewer nursing staff than legally required can come to work. No cuts are being made to the homes’ remuneration.

COVID-19 related costs or loss of income are compensated for by the nursing care insurance fund. Costs will not be charged to those in need of care.

Protective equipment is distributed to the nursing facilities by the federal states. This means that centrally procured protective equipment is delivered to the state health authorities. The allocation is made according to local and regional needs.
Full details here: https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-de/themen/coronavirus/krankenhaeuser-medizin-pflege-1734982