Linke on health and care

The Left sees health care as a public service and wants it oriented toward the population's needs rather than profit. The basis is to be planning across outpatient, hospital and nursing care, along with more prevention and better training in health professions.

The Left wants to plan health care better. Planning should follow what people need. Profit should play no part. The city should do more to keep people healthy. Training for health jobs should get better.

In the program's view, flat-rate case payments, profit orientation and the withdrawal of profits lead to misdirected care; handing political responsibility to private-sector mechanisms is to be reversed. Health data would be collected by neighborhood to make gaps in care visible. The state-level body under Section 90a of Social Code Book V is to be expanded to include districts and patient representatives and, through a Bundesrat initiative, turned into a binding steering body. The party wants to support training in nursing and health professions as well as medical studies, and to achieve working conditions secured by collective agreements. Instead of mainly treating illness, the focus should shift toward living conditions that promote health.

The Left wants to build up the public health service (ÖGD) as a third pillar of health care. Health offices should get enough staff and infrastructure for all their legal duties and be allowed to provide diagnosis and treatment themselves where other care falls short.

The Left wants stronger public health offices. They should get more staff and better equipment. Open jobs should be filled. The offices should also be allowed to treat people. That applies where there are too few doctors.

The program argues that the offices cannot fulfill their duties with current resources and that the federal-state pact for the public health service ends in 2026 without a replacement. Working there is to become more attractive, including through changed admission rules at Berlin universities for psychology, medicine and social work. Through Berlin's public health service law, health promotion, addiction services and psychiatric care would be extended to include diagnosis and treatment, also billed to statutory health insurance. This would apply especially where the association of statutory health insurance physicians fails to ensure care. The party wants to launch initiatives in federal law for broader powers.

The Left calls for reliable funding of Berlin's services against HIV and AIDS and for access to prevention and treatment for everyone, including refugees. Because vaccination rates are falling, vaccination campaigns and checkup programs are also to be expanded.

The Left wants steady funding for the fight against HIV. Everyone should get HIV medicine. That includes refugees. There should be more campaigns for vaccines. More people should go to health checkups.

The party stands by the goals of the Fast Track Cities initiative, a network of cities fighting HIV. Preventive medication (PrEP) and antiretroviral therapy are to be open to everyone, and the party wants to fight discrimination and stigma. A Berlin action plan spanning several government departments is to coordinate the work, with the FTC network taking part. Preventive checkups, dental and school-entry exams, as well as vaccination counseling and vaccinations, are to be used more widely.

The Left wants to fund two care centers for homeless people and set up outreach health services for the uninsured. According to the program, current care depends heavily on donations and volunteers. Barriers for disadvantaged groups in the health system are also to be reduced.

The Left wants to pay for two health centers for homeless people. Doctors, nurses and social workers will work there. Helpers should also go out to people. This helps people without health insurance. Doctors' offices should be free of barriers.

In the centers, specially trained medical, nursing, therapy and social work staff would provide all services that do not require a hospital stay. These include specialist and dental treatment, counseling for mental illness and addiction, help with hygiene, lab diagnostics and links to other support services. Low-threshold services for first aid, prevention and chronic illness are planned. For disadvantaged groups, the party wants anti-discrimination training, barrier-free practices and a guide system to help people navigate health services.

The Left wants a special program to set up medical care centers (MVZ) under public or nonprofit ownership to tackle the shortage of doctors, especially in underserved neighborhoods and in eastern Berlin. The party rejects investor-run centers and wants more affordable space for practices.

Some parts of Berlin have too few doctors. The Left wants to build new health centers there. The state, the districts or nonprofit groups should own them. The state pays to get them started. There should also be more affordable rooms for doctors' offices.

A dedicated unit in the health administration is to carry out the program, and a task force at the state-owned hospital group Vivantes is to examine what state-owned primary care centers require. A special fund from the state budget would cover start-up costs for state-owned and municipal centers; for nonprofit operators, the state and the association of statutory health insurance physicians would pay jointly. Funding for nonprofit health centers that bring several professions under one roof is to continue and grow. Until investor-run centers are banned nationwide, the party relies on Berlin's law on health profession chambers. For practice space, state-owned buildings are to be renovated as a priority, state-owned housing companies obliged to plan for health facilities, and a commercial rent cap for primary care examined.

The Left wants to expand pilot projects for community health nurses and tie them more closely to municipal health centers. These nurses are meant to advise people in their neighborhoods and help those with poor access to the health system reach medical care.

Community health nurses work in neighborhoods. They give people advice about their health. The Left wants more projects like this. This should help old and sick people most.

According to the platform, community health nurses work in the neighborhood, advise on health questions, support people with chronic illnesses and spot risks early. The platform names older people, people with complex support needs and people with limited access to care as the main groups. The pilot projects are to grow and be linked with municipal health centers and local care services. The Left also wants to fund related training courses and degree programs.

The Left wants better care for people with ME/CFS, long Covid and post-vac syndrome, especially those who cannot be transported. It plans home visits, telemedicine, more specialized services and more research funding.

Some people stay sick for a long time after Covid. Others have an illness called ME/CFS. Many cannot leave their homes. The Left wants home visits and video appointments for them. It also wants more research.

Patients who cannot be transported are to get barrier-free access such as home visits and telemedicine. An awareness campaign is also meant to cover infection protection as prevention, because the platform sees a lack of recognition of the illness and of training in the health system. Specialized services for long Covid patients are to be supported and expanded, since capacity falls short of demand according to the platform. Research funding for ME/CFS should match the severity and frequency of the illness and aim at making medication available.

The Left wants to keep pharmacies in residential neighborhoods and tie them more closely into health care. It points to the falling number of pharmacies in Berlin and to supply problems with medicines.

Berlin has fewer and fewer pharmacies. The Left wants to keep pharmacies close to where people live. It wants more training places for pharmacy jobs. It also wants to change how pharmacies are paid.

According to the platform, the number of pharmacies in Berlin fell by 20 percent in ten years, and in some districts one in four closed. It also says 97 percent of medical practices report supply problems with medicines. The Left wants more training places for pharmacists and pharmaceutical technical assistants (PTA). At the federal level, it wants to push for changes to how pharmacies are paid.

The Left wants to raise the state's investment funding for hospitals and reverse cuts made by the current Senate. At the federal level it wants to move beyond the flat-rate case payment system, and Berlin is to plan hospital services by need rather than revenue.

Hospitals now get money for each treatment. These are called case payments. The Left wants to end this system. Berlin should give hospitals more money for buildings and equipment. The state should plan which hospital offers which care.

In the platform's view, hospital operators now decide on closures based on business figures, and hundreds of millions of euros are missing between investment needs and available funds. The Left wants to work at the federal level toward ending case-based flat rates (DRGs) and to shield bedside care from their effects at the state level. For higher investment it is looking at new financing models and wider use of the special fund for climate and infrastructure; money is to be granted per project rather than as lump sums. Priority goes to the psychiatric units at Hedwigshöhe hospital and Urban hospital. The Jewish Hospital is to remain a full hospital, ideally in cooperation with the public sector. Berlin is to use the planning powers given to states by the federal hospital reform for democratic planning.

The Left wants to expand the public hospital groups Charité and Vivantes and return private hospitals to public ownership when operators give up sites or undercut standards. The public hospitals are to be reorganized so that staff, patient representatives and districts share in decisions.

The Left says hospitals should not make profit for investors. The public hospitals Charité and Vivantes should grow. Some private hospitals should belong to the city again. Staff and patients should have a say in public hospitals.

The platform counts hospitals as essential public services and rejects profit-driven owners. The Left seeks to bring hospitals back into municipal hands where private operators close sites or departments or fail to meet quality and staffing standards. The legal form of municipal hospitals is to guarantee transparency and democratic control instead of following the logic of a limited company with business secrets. Staff, patient representatives, districts, the state and the public health service are to share decisions in planning and management bodies. Hospitals are also to get more ward pharmacists.

The Left wants more psychotherapy practices covered by public insurance in Berlin, crisis centers and counseling offices in every district, and stable funding for the crisis service. Psychiatry is to work without violence as far as possible, and mental health is to become a topic in schools and in workplace safety rules.

Many people wait a long time for therapy. The Left wants more therapy places paid by public health insurance. Every district should get a center for mental health crises. Schools should teach about mental health. Psychiatric care should avoid violence as much as possible.

Berlin is to get its share of the 2,400 insurance-funded psychotherapy practices missing nationwide; a new office is to oversee and document reimbursement claims. Every district is to have a crisis intervention center with short-term admission, psychosocial contact and counseling offices, and a commissioner on loneliness. Day clinics, outpatient psychiatric units and hospital-level treatment at home are to be available everywhere, and assisted living and individual case support are to grow. Mental strain is to be added to the workplace regulation and checked regularly. Services for traumatized people and for trans, inter and non-binary people are to be expanded, and therapists in training are to be paid fairly. The forensic psychiatric hospital is to get an extension building; in the long run the Left wants alternatives to this kind of placement.

The Left wants higher pay, binding staffing rules and an end to outsourcing in the health professions. It points to staff shortages and heavy workloads, which in its view lead to mistakes and put patients at risk.

Hospitals and practices do not have enough staff. The work is very hard. The Left wants better pay for these jobs. It wants fixed rules on how many staff must be there. Outsourced companies should come back into the hospitals.

Outsourced units such as Charité Facility Management and the Vivantes subsidiaries are to be brought back in-house. A Good Work fund open to all hospital operators is to support good working conditions and collective pay agreements. Skilled workers from abroad are to get integration services and a legal advice portal, and care workers in private households a binding legal framework. Pregnant women and women giving birth are to get one-to-one care through better staffing ratios. Training and further education are to improve, and the training campus for health professions at the former Wenckebach hospital is to be expanded. Prevention programs and protection plans against violence toward staff are to grow.

The Left wants to introduce a Pflegewohngeld (care housing benefit) through which the state relieves nursing home residents of investment costs. More care facilities are to be publicly run, and at the federal level it seeks lower co-payments and, in the long run, full-coverage care insurance.

A place in a nursing home costs more and more. The Left wants a new care housing benefit. This is money from the state for people in nursing homes. More homes should be publicly owned. Later, insurance should pay all care costs.

The platform points to rising co-payments in nursing homes and says care allowances and service budgets cover less and less home care. It says short-term and day care places are scarce in many areas, which overburdens family caregivers. The state is therefore to help pay the investment costs of residential care facilities through the care housing benefit. The share of publicly run care facilities is to rise sharply. Berlin is to press in the Bundesrat for lower co-payments nationwide; the Left's long-term goal is a solidarity-based care insurance that covers all costs.

The Left wants to expand the Pflegestützpunkte (independent care advice centers) and set up an emergency care hotline. To relieve family caregivers, short-term and day care would be expanded, and care provision would be planned in a binding way at state and district level.

The Left wants more advice on care. There should be more care advice centers. An emergency phone line should help at night and on weekends. People who care for relatives should get more relief.

The platform sees the care advice centers as guides through the care, social and health services. The emergency care hotline would follow Hamburg's example and offer advice and referrals mainly when other services are closed. Short-term care would grow, and gaps in day care would be closed. The "Landespflegeplan 2025" (state care plan) would be carried out, and binding care structure planning for the state and the districts would be advanced. Lessons from pilot projects such as the "Runder Tisch Pflege" in Treptow-Köpenick would be applied citywide. In addition, residents' councils in care homes would get more say and the tools they need.

The Left wants medicine that takes gender differences into account in research, training and treatment. In the platform's view, the health of women and FLINTA* people has been neglected, and women-specific topics receive too little research funding.

The Left wants medicine to pay more attention to women. There should be more research on illnesses that affect women. Doctors and nurses should learn more about this. Pads and tampons should be free in public buildings.

Research on endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome and lipedema would be expanded, and gender-specific studies would become mandatory for drug approval. Berlin's endometriosis center would be strengthened, along with a pilot project on multimodal pain therapy and an annual conference. All medical professions would get mandatory awareness training, and first-aid courses would practice more how to treat women. After sexual violence, anonymous evidence collection would be available around the clock across Berlin. Public facilities would provide menstrual products for free. Women with addictions and homeless women would get dedicated support and safe shelter.

The Left wants heat action plans for the state, the districts and facilities such as hospitals and nursing homes, along with a climate-neutral conversion of health care buildings. The platform cites the health effects of the climate crisis, which hit vulnerable groups hardest.

The Left says the climate crisis makes people sick. So there should be plans against heat. Hospitals and nursing homes should use less energy. They should become climate neutral.

The platform lists more heat-related illness, respiratory disease from dirty air and new infectious diseases as consequences. It says children, older people and those in precarious housing and jobs are most at risk. The heat action plans would be coordinated across levels. The health system would use fewer resources without lowering the quality of care. Hospitals, care facilities and health centers would get energy retrofits.

The Left wants to use digital tools for care and health planning while protecting patients' data. Hospitals, medical practices, care facilities and public health offices would work together more closely.

The Left wants more digital technology in health care. Hospitals, doctors and health offices should share data better. Patients' data should stay safe. All health workers should learn to use the technology.

The platform warns that health data is increasingly traded, but also sees opportunities for diagnosis, care and therapy. Hospital information systems would have to be secure against unauthorized access while still allowing data exchange for treatment. The networking is meant to help with infectious diseases and drinking water monitoring, for example. Berlin would get places where digital solutions can be tried out. Digital skills would become a fixed part of training in every health profession.

The Left wants a drug policy that does not punish use but reduces health and social risks. At the federal level, the narcotics law would be reformed so that currently banned substances can be supplied legally and on a non-profit basis.

The Left wants to stop punishing drug use. People should be able to get currently banned drugs legally. Nobody should make a profit from this. Help and advice for addiction should grow.

Legal supply would be tied to education, youth protection and prevention. In Berlin, the party plans new low-threshold services, including inhalation rooms for crack on the Swiss model, and wants to end the strict prosecution of small-scale dealing. Prevention, outpatient therapy, counseling and access to substitution treatment would be expanded. Cannabis growing clubs would be approved more easily, get advice when starting up, and be allowed to permit shared use on site. Drug checking would get more capacity, go mobile and also be offered in drug consumption rooms.

The Left opposes gearing Berlin's health system toward a possible war. Care should be organized according to social criteria and the population's needs, not military standards.

The Left wants no war preparation in hospitals. Berlin hospitals should not take part in war drills. Care should follow what people need. Health workers should serve peace.

The platform criticizes the framework plan for civil defense in hospitals, which the party sees as a restructuring along military lines. It objects that in an alliance or defense emergency, the military would be treated ahead of Berlin's population. Staff, it says, are being planned for as a resource. Berlin's health facilities should therefore not take part in exercises for wartime.

The Left wants a dedicated program to bring care facilities back under public ownership and to invest public money in care infrastructure. It also wants better medical care for older people and those needing care, for example through higher pay for house calls.

The Left wants care homes to belong to the city again. The city should put more money into care. There should be more places for day care and short-term care. Family doctors should get more money for home visits. Offices should process requests for help faster.

Public investment is to pay for both the return to public ownership and additional places in day care and short-term care. Social welfare offices are to get enough staff and money to process applications for Hilfe zur Pflege (care assistance) faster, along with advance approval at the time of application. House calls by family doctors are to be better paid. The platform calls on the Kassenärztliche Vereinigung (association of statutory health insurance physicians) to improve care for older people, including binding rules on reaching practices by phone.

Citing growing heat stress, the Left calls for more protective services aimed specifically at older people. Public meeting places are to serve as cool spaces, and senior housing and care facilities are to be made ready for heat.

Summers in Berlin often get very hot. This is dangerous for older people. The Left wants cool rooms in the city's meeting places. There should be more drinking water in buildings and in public squares. Neighbors should visit and support older people who live alone.

Drinking water dispensers are to be installed throughout public buildings, with additional drinking fountains in public spaces. Morning appointments at doctors' offices and citizens' service offices are meant to make necessary trips easier in hot weather. For older people living alone, neighborhood outreach services are to be expanded.

The Left wants a coordinated plan for psychosocial prevention and better care for children and young people in Berlin. The health system, youth social work, schools and youth welfare services would work together more closely.

Some children and young people are lonely or mentally ill. The Left wants to help them better. Doctors, schools and youth services should work together more. There should be more help by chat and phone.

The platform lists loneliness, bullying, discrimination, addiction, mental illness and neurodivergence as issues to be addressed structurally. Youth work would act as a guide, pointing to existing services such as family counseling centers. Easy-to-reach crisis chats and hotlines would be strengthened. In-person contact points would be added in the places where young people actually spend time.

The Left calls for health care free of discrimination, including free HIV prevention medication (PrEP) for everyone who needs it. Waiting times for treatments for trans people are to be shortened.

The Left wants good health care for queer people. PrEP should be free. PrEP is a medicine that protects against HIV. Trans people should not wait so long for treatment. Doctors should learn more about queer people.

To cut waiting times for surgeries and hormone therapy, specialized practices would be expanded and hospital capacity strengthened. Doctors and therapists would receive training on queer identities. Queer youth centers would get money for gender-affirming products and measures for young trans, intersex and non-binary people. The party opposes the current Senate's cuts to queer youth work.

The Left wants Berlin to push at the federal level for a far-reaching ban on advertising for sports betting. It cites the risk of addiction, which it says comes especially from betting apps. In Berlin, prevention is to be stepped up and the appearance of betting shops strictly regulated.

Sports betting can be addictive. The Left wants to ban almost all ads for it. Berlin should push for this across Germany. Betting shops should not invite people to gamble from the outside. Young people should learn more about the dangers.

Prevention and education work at the state level is meant to reach young men in sports clubs in particular, whom the platform considers especially at risk. Betting shops would be required to have tinted windows that block the view inside. Images that encourage gambling and the use of athletes or other celebrities on storefronts would be prohibited. A clearly visible warning about gambling risks would have to appear on the exterior. The Left also calls for education aimed at young people on doping and medication misuse in recreational sports, especially in gyms.