Patients wait a long time for a doctor's appointment. That was 2012!

If you need a doctor's appointment in Germany, you have to be patient. According to a new survey, every third patient has to wait longer than three days for an appointment, every tenth even more than three weeks. 

Almost 25% of patients who have had to wait for a doctor's appointment in the past 12 months think the wait was too long. About 30% of those surveyed had to wait longer than three days for an appointment. Visiting a specialist in particular often requires patience. About 25% of those with statutory health insurance have to wait more than three weeks for an appointment. 

In contrast, patients with an acute need for treatment and private patients rarely have to wait. Ok, if you are sick, you need help. And that's what doctors are there for. The practice fee introduced a few years ago had the aim of reducing the number of patients, primarily unnecessary ones. Administrative tasks generated by this probably created work, money was taken from the coffers; that shouldn't be the issue. I mean, instead of getting worked up about long (3 days!) waiting times, the patient should make sure in advance that he doesn't become a patient in the first place. 

If I take care of my health today, 

I don't have to go to the doctors tomorrow!