The federal cabinet adopted a draft law presented by Health Minister Karl Lauterbach on Wednesday, which is designed to change the way emergency services are accessed by patients.

The plan – which is intended to reduce overloads for doctors, emergency rooms and rescue services – involves the creation of localised control centres and significantly beefing up telephone response services.

Here’s how emergency services are due to be changed.

How will patients’ experience change?

In future, emergency call services are to be expanded with so-called “acute control centres”.

At these centres doctors would advise patients by telephone or video when possible, and refer more urgent cases to emergency facilities. 

Medical emergency calls to 112 or 116117 would be patched through to these acute control centres when applicable. This is intended to reduce the number of emergency responses that are dispatched for minor injuries.

According to the plan, patients referred to a call centre should be able to expect an initial assessment after three minutes in 75 percent of cases.

“Those who can be treated on an outpatient basis with telephone or video-based counselling do not have to go to hospital,” Lauterbach told Tagesschau.

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For cases that turn out not to be urgent, patients may be able to be issued an electronic prescription or sick note.

Additionally, patients with urgent issues should be directed to more specific treatment centres, rather than going straight to the hospital.

The draft law calls for “integrated emergency centres”, many of which may be added to existing medical clinics or hospitals. 

These localised centres would work to offer an initial diagnosis and refer patients, depending on urgency, to the emergency room or other medical facilities services.

This is intended to cut down on wait times in emergency rooms by more quickly redirecting patients to the specific care services they need.

The minister stressed: “In the future, acute care should take place where it makes medical sense.” 

Emergency services are due for a reform

Emergency rooms and services are often running at high-capacity in many parts of Germany.

According to the Ministry of Health, one in three people in an emergency room would be better treated in a specified practice. 

But often patients don’t know what to do when urgent medical issues arise at night or on weekends, so many end up in emergency rooms and hospitals.

However, making a plan for a comprehensive reform and pulling it off are two different things. 

As with so many bold plans in Germany, a serious challenge will be the country’s growing shortage of workers – in this case healthcare workers.

The General Practitioners’ Association has warned that a lack of the necessary staff, and parallel structures between services could lead to the reform’s failure.

The National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV) praised the initiative, but also expressed doubts due to a lack of personnel.

Other proposals adopted on Wednesday

Along with the emergency health services reform, several other health ministry proposals have been adopted today. 

Kidney donations between a couple will be possible going forward. 

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Also a new authority focused on disease prevention – the Federal Institute for Prevention and Education in Medicine (BIPAM) – is to be launched on January 1st, 2025. Parts of the Robert Koch Institute and the Federal Centre for Health Education are to be absorbed into it. 

Finally, gematik, which is Germany’s central platform for digital applications in the healthcare system, is to be expanded into a digital agency.