Oncology services in corona times: a flash interview among German cancer patients and their physicians
- PDF / 394,705 Bytes
- 3 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 56 Downloads / 167 Views
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Oncology services in corona times: a flash interview among German cancer patients and their physicians Jens Büntzel1 · Michael Klein2 · Christian Keinki2 · Stefanie Walter3 · Judith Büntzel4 · Jutta Hübner2 Received: 23 April 2020 / Accepted: 6 May 2020 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Objective Public discussion and health-care systems worldwide have been focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic. Does it have an impact on cancer care today? Materials and methods The PRIO (“Prevention and Integrative Oncology”) Working Group (German Cancer Society) has initiated an online survey for physicians, medical staff and patients on April 16, 2020. Between April 16 and April 19, 47 doctors and 146 patients filled in the questionnaires. The survey is ongoing. We present the first data. Results A majority of German patients (76%) and physicians (71%) report moderate or high restriction in their daily life. A minority (patients 25%, physicians 13%) was not worried that necessary treatments or diagnostics were restricted. Organizing cancer care needs more time and efforts for 56% of all reporting doctors. 98% of all oncologists think that restriction of family visits has a negative impact on the mental health of cancer patients. Half of all participants (patients 43%, physicians 47%) expect negative consequences on the physical status of our patients. Patients feel the existing emotional stress in 34% of their physicians. 52% of physicians fear mental and/or physical longtime consequences for themselves. Conclusion There is a high level of mental and physical stress triggered by the present COVID-19 management. After only a few weeks, human resources are limited. They will be the most important key for further health-care services for patients with cancer and other chronic diseases. Dear editor, Starting from the 16th of March 2020, the German government has decreed that all unnecessary medical interventions, contacts and treatments should be deferred to a later (undefined) date, if it was medically justifiable to do so. According to the governmental decree, the German health-care systems’ focus shifted from usual care to increasing intensive care unit (ICU) capacities for ventilation. Human resources were to be transferred to infectiology wards and ICUs. Already at * Jens Büntzel jens.buentzel@shk‑ndh.de 1
Department of Otolaryngology, Palliative Medicine, Südharz-Klinikum Nordhausen, Dr.‑Robert‑Koch‑Str. 39, 99734 Nordhausen, Germany
2
Department of Internal Medicine II, University Hospital Jena, Jena, Germany
3
German Federal Association of Throat Cancer Patients, Bonn, Germany
4
Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, University Hospital Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
this date, some Federal States have discussed banning family members from visiting inpatients and the elderly in nursing homes (Ärzteblatt DÄG Redaktion Deutsches 2020). The latter did also become common practice soon (NDR Coronavirus in SH: Besuchsverbot in Pflegeheimen und Klin
Data Loading...
