SSW on health and care

The SSW wants to make it easier to get treatment in the neighboring country and to choose a doctor there freely. Authorities and hospitals on both sides of the border are to work together more closely.

People in the border region should be able to see a doctor in the neighboring country more easily. German and Danish hospitals should work together more. This also applies to ambulance services.

German and Danish health authorities and hospitals in the border region are to deepen their cooperation. The platform points to existing cooperation under the EU funding program Interreg in emergency response, ambulance services and patient care, such as the project 'Gefahrenabwehr ohne Grenzen' (emergency response without borders). Regular exchange is meant to produce further joint measures.

The SSW wants hospitals to be publicly owned again in the long run, arguing that health care should serve the common good rather than profit. Investment funding for hospitals is to rise substantially.

The SSW wants hospitals to belong to the public again. This should happen in the long run. Health care should not be about profit. Hospitals should also get more money for buildings.

The state and the federal government are to keep helping municipalities renovate and build hospitals. The program calls for adequate hospital funding. Hospitals should follow the principle of "one house, one pay scale," meaning the same collective agreement for all staff. The SSW also wants lasting, better funding for the public health service at state and local level.

The SSW wants a Bürgerversicherung (single universal health insurance) that everyone in Germany pays into, instead of some groups being privately insured. Long-term care insurance is to become full coverage that pays all care costs with no co-payments.

The SSW wants one health insurance for everyone. All people should pay into it. Long-term care insurance should change too. It should pay all care costs. Nobody should have to pay extra.

The program rejects letting high earners leave the shared funding system through private insurance. Employees and the self-employed alike would pay into health and long-term care insurance. The SSW calls the overhaul of long-term care insurance a change of system. It is meant to give every person who needs care dignified and suitable care.

The SSW wants to tackle staff shortages in care with a binding collective agreement for elder care at public-sector pay levels and legally fixed staffing ratios. This is meant to make the job more attractive and secure the quality of care.

The SSW wants better pay for care workers. One pay agreement should cover all of elder care. A law should set how many staff are needed. There should also be more training places.

The federal government is to introduce the collective agreement. For elder care, the program demands staffing in line with the University of Bremen's assessment method, without cutbacks. If staff are lacking, beds are to be closed to avoid treatment errors. Care workers are to get more training and working hours that take their needs into account. Training places are to increase, the coordinating office Netzwerk Pflegeausbildung is to continue, and care qualifications are to be fully recognized between Schleswig-Holstein and Denmark. The program expects a shortfall of more than 180,000 care workers by 2030.

The SSW wants to secure medical care close to home in the largely rural state of Schleswig-Holstein, including through incentives for doctors and more telemedicine. Hospices, maternity care, and prevention are also to be strengthened.

The SSW wants good doctors in the countryside too. Doctors should get benefits for working there. Treatment over the internet should be used more. Midwives and hospices should also get more support.

Outpatient and inpatient care are to be linked more closely, and qualified nurses are to get wider responsibilities. The SSW wants to expand hospices, outpatient hospice services, and specialized outpatient palliative care. For midwives, the program calls for affordable liability insurance, changed billing rates, free choice of where to give birth, and German-Danish cooperation in training. Screening and prevention are to get more weight, and the state dementia plan is to continue with adequate funding.

The SSW wants more support for people who care for relatives and an easier balance between caregiving and work. A "Vereinbarkeitsbudget" (work-care balance budget) modeled on Elterngeld (parental allowance) would replace lost wages.

The SSW wants to help people who care for relatives. They should get money to replace their wages. This would work much like the parental allowance. Advisers should also visit people at home.

The budget is meant to be flexible in both money and time. The program also provides for broader relief services. Following the community nurse model, people in need of care and their relatives would get free advice at home. This advice is meant to be preventive, covering topics such as care, housing, and mobility, and to connect people with nearby social activities.