New Expert Council for Health & Care is formed
28.02.2023 15:02
On February 28, 2023, the Health & Care Advisory Council met for its inaugural meeting at the Federal Ministry of Health. At the meeting, Prof. Michael Hallek, director of the Clinic for Internal Medicine at the University Hospital of Cologne and deputy director of the Center for Integrated Oncology Aachen Bonn Cologne Düsseldorf (CIO), became chairman and Prof. Melanie Messer and Prof. Jonas Schreyögg became the deputy Chairman elected. Minister Lauterbach then had his first personal meeting with the newly appointed committee.
Federal Minister of Health Prof. Karl Lauterbach: “As a former member of the Advisory Council, this body is particularly close to my heart. I look forward to important, new impulses from science for our work. As a society, we are also confronted with a shortage of skilled workers in the healthcare sector. That is why I asked the Advisory Council to devote its first report to this topic. We have to find ways to provide good care for the baby boomers as they get older and sicker.”
Focus on “Health Care Professionals”
The topic of “health care professionals” was particularly discussed in the exchange of ideas. The minister had already asked the council members in the appeal letter to examine this issue in an initial report. Current framework conditions and future options for action for securing skilled workers in the German healthcare system will be analyzed, both for inpatient and outpatient care. The aim is to take the various health professions into account, especially in the areas of nursing, medicine and psychotherapy, and examine them with regard to, among other things, competing needs in the labor market and demographic change. The new chairman, Prof. Michael Hallek: “The shortage of staff in hospitals, in nursing, but also in outpatient care is becoming more and more problematic. It is therefore right that we, as the Council of Experts, address this issue first. By shortening the review period, we only have one year to find answers to this complex question. But this is more of an obligation than a burden for the Council of Experts. In this way, we can initiate the necessary change processes during this legislative period.”
Background:
Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach appointed a new Health & Care Advisory Council on February 1, 2023. The following were appointed to the Health & Care Advisory Council for the term of office February 1, 2023 to January 31, 2027:
* Prof. Nils Gutacker, PhD Professor of Health Economics at the University of York, UK
* Prof. Dr. med. Michael Hallek Director of the Clinic for Internal Medicine at the University Hospital Cologne and Deputy Director of the Center for Integrated Oncology Aachen Bonn Cologne Düsseldorf (CIO)
* Prof. Dr. med. Stefanie Joos is chair of general medicine in Tübingen and medical director of the Institute for General Medicine and Interprofessional Care at the University Hospital of Tübingen
* Prof. Dr. PH Melanie Messer Professor of Nursing Science with a focus on clinical care across the lifespan at the University of Trier
* Prof. Dr. med. Jochen Schmitt, MPH Professor of Social Medicine and Health Services Research at the Technical University of Dresden and Director of the Center for Evidence-Based Health Care (ZEGV) at Dresden University Medicine
* Prof. Dr. rer. oec. Jonas Schreyögg Scientific Director of the Hamburg Center for Health Economics (HCHE) at the University of Hamburg
* Prof. Dr. rer. oec. Leonie Sundmacher Head of the Department of Health Economics at the Technical University of Munich
The task of the Advisory Council is to carry out analyzes of the development of health care with its medical and economic effects and to derive recommendations for the needs-based care of patients as well as to show possibilities and paths for the further development of the health care system.