Press – August 2020
The Corona crisis has once again exposed the weaknesses of our healthcare system, but how could healthcare be thought of in a radically different way? The "Poliklinik" is trying to implement new ideas of health in Leipzig-Schönefeld.
Between health and profit
In recent months, it has become apparent how vulnerable the German healthcare system is. As the high infection rates of the Tönnies slaughterhouse have shown, health is still a question of class. Due to poor working conditions, workers* are at higher risk for their health, especially in times of Corona. At the same time, they have less access to the health care system because, for example, they are only covered by statutory health insurance and do not have the financial means for treatments that go beyond the health insurance catalog.
Another problem is the increasing profit orientation in the healthcare system. "The way the health care system is billed is not based on need," explains Rosa from the university group "Critical Medicine Leipzig." It is not the treatments that a patient needs that are billed, but those that the financial plan provides for. According to Rosa, this also leads to "as many services as possible being provided in as short a time as possible," which means that treatment suffers. Especially due to the increasing privatization of hospitals, it is no longer about providing patients with the best care, but about increasing profits. As a result, the number of vacant beds is reduced to a minimum and nurses are underpaid. All this became noticeable during the Corona crisis.
A solidarity-based health center for Leipzig
Since January of this year, the polyclinic in Leipzig-Schönefeld has offered an alternative. In cooperation with clinics throughout Germany, it is committed to a social and solidarity-based implementation of health. In the understanding of the Poliklinik, the individual social and psychological situation of a person plays a role in his or her health. For this reason, the clinic also sees district work and influencing health and social policy as part of its central tasks. The aim is to improve the health of entire population groups.
The idea behind this is that if there is enormous air pollution in a neighborhood, for example, and a lot of people are suffering from it, and it is having a negative effect, then you look at whether you should take a political approach.
Jonas Löwenberg, Polyclinic
What services does the polyclinic offer?
Among other things, work is being done on offering discussion groups to give people an opportunity to exchange ideas. For example, people with chronic illnesses can use this platform to share their experiences and support each other. The clinic is also a counseling center that refers visitors to therapy places and social programs, for example.
Furthermore, the polyclinic in Leipzig shares rooms with the Clearingstelle und Anonymer Behandlungsschein Leipzig e.V., which is a contact point for people without health insurance and without papers. According to Jonas Löwenberg, this organization issues anonymous treatment certificates, which patients can then use to receive treatment in hospital.
The text originates from mephisto 97.6the contribution is unfortunately no longer available.
