“The ministry of health has extinguished the flames, but we must analyse what lies behind them,” said  (déi Gréng), referring to the latest problems facing public health. Indeed, between the in Ettelbruck, the from the CHdN and the in Grevenmacher, the negative signals have multiplied in recent months.

However, against the background of a shortage of personnel, what these various incidents show is a “structural problem,” according to the head of the fraction, which requires a global response. And this is where the problem lies, according to déi Gréng. “We don't have a national health plan at the moment, so we’re running behind the problems without proactively avoiding them,” she said. “This is what Ms Lenert is also calling for, and we agree with her. But if it is good to say it, it must also be done without delay,” she addressed the minister of health, (LSAP).

Figures are missing

A national health plan that will have to define “the responsibility of each one without putting in conflict the hospital and extra-hospital sectors which must work together in a coherent way,” explained the deputy. It is the patient who must be considered “as a priority,” who must be “at the heart of our concerns,” and not “the benefits of certain professions.”

Public health policy must therefore find its direction, in dialogue with the Gesondheetsdesch and with the analyses of the --particularly the numerical analyses, which are lacking. For example, with regard to the MRI in Grevenmacher: “We do not have the figures or the exact data to show that an MRI is needed there and not at another location. We need exact data, a needs-based analysis to know where services are needed and where they are not needed,” said Lorsché, who has “the impression that the discussion about MRI is being conducted on an emotional level and not on the basis of facts that are proven.” According to the deputy, it is necessary “to collect data and evaluate them in order to implement a coherent system where, in the first instance, the needs are defined--rather than setting up facilities without having an analysis of the needs.”

Focus on the patient

The déi Gréng parliamentary group recognises the progress made in tackling the shortage of personnel: a bachelor’s degree in medicine, extension of specialisation courses at the university, nursing training extended to four specialisations, etc. But more could be done to improve attractiveness: “We need to see if there are other specialisations at the university level that could be set up to give young people even more opportunities,” said Lorsché, and not to have any taboos about the idea of having a university hospital that collaborates with hospitals in the Greater Region, in order to “give young people the opportunity to do internships in the Greater Region or in Luxembourg.”

According to the fraction, primary medicine should also be strengthened--in particular by introducing a “referral doctor,” who would centrally coordinate the necessary examinations and preventive medicine measures in order to guarantee patients simple access to the necessary services--and hospital medicine, by improving the attractiveness of medical work in hospitals. This, without forgetting the digitalisation of health services and the , which must be carried out without forgetting to keep the patient at the centre of attention.

This story was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.