Coronavirus: operations are postponed

Lisa Vogel studied departmental journalism with a focus on medicine and biosciences at Ansbach University and deepened her journalistic knowledge in the master's degree in multimedia information and communication. This was followed by a traineeship in the editorial team. Since September 2020 she has been writing as a freelance journalist for

More posts by Lisa Vogel All content is checked by medical journalists.

The postponement of predictable operations due to the coronavirus epidemic could affect more than every second intervention in North Rhine-Westphalia.

(lv / dpa) - That said the President of the NRW Hospital Society, Jochen Brink, on Monday in the WDR. For the hospitals this means a "huge challenge".

Hospital managements all over the country are currently busy reorganizing their operations. The attending physician decides which interventions could be postponed for a few months without harming the patient. After his first impression, the patients reacted "very understandingly," said Brink.

Berlin hospitals are also postponing predictable operations to create more space for patients with Covid-19. They are also expanding their ventilation capacities. "The cancellation of plannable treatments is possible if it is justifiable in individual cases for medical reasons," said the spokeswoman for the Berlin Hospital Society, Barbara Ogrinz, on Monday for the German press agency.

Intensive care beds for corona patients

With the postponement, which was recommended nationwide and by the NRW Ministry of Health, intensive care beds and ventilators are to be kept free for the treatment of seriously ill coronavirus patients. The decision is understandable and will be implemented quickly, assured Brink.

However, the renouncement of so many operations brings loss of income "of a very large amount". The federal and state governments have promised financial protection for the already tense clinics. "I hope that this will be implemented without small and small," said Brink.

Tags:  Diagnosis elderly care gpp