Town Hall Experienced Last Special State Parliament Session Before Vienna Election
In the Vienna town hall, the last special session of the city parliament in this legislative period took place on Thursday. It was a state parliament session on the topic of health, requested by the FPÖ. Special sessions of the city council or the state parliament are tools of the opposition to discuss certain topics. There are no question times or current hours as in "normal" sessions. However, such appointments are still on the agenda.
City Council and State Parliament Before Vienna Election
This is somewhat unusual, as usually no sessions take place so close to an election. However, a normal city council and a state parliament are on the agenda for the coming week on Wednesday and Thursday - just a few days before the ballot on the following Sunday. This is because Red-Pink still had resolutions planned. Among the already communicated plans was the amendment of the event law. Since the Vienna election scheduled for autumn was brought forward, the dates have now been inserted.
FPÖ Sees "Shambles"
Unsurprisingly, today's session was mainly dominated by election campaign tones. FPÖ leader Dominik Nepp identified a "shambles" in the health sector at the outset. The SPÖ had run down the system. "There are long waiting times, there are missing doctors and overloaded hospital outpatient departments." There is also a lack of nursing staff, he warned. In addition, too little is being invested in infrastructure. Austrian citizens should also have priority in the health sector, Nepp stated. Asylum seekers, for example, should only receive emergency care.
NEOS representative Dolores Bakos recognized "pure populism" in the FPÖ statements, which would not benefit the people. It would also defame nursing staff, who often have foreign citizenship, she pointed out. Constructive solutions are important. Bakos advocated for local and low-threshold access to health services. Primary care centers or the expansion of the health hotline 1450 are important here, she stated. The coalition has also created numerous offers for children and young people, Bakos emphasized.
Greens for Incentive Models
The problems in the area have not decreased, noted the Green health spokesperson Jennifer Kickert, while also referring to waiting times, staff shortages, and overloaded emergency rooms. Structural problems cannot be solved by excluding a group of patients. She called for incentive models for less popular working hours in hospital shifts. It is also necessary to have the system financed from a single source. Otherwise, individual interests cannot be overcome, warned Kickert.
The health spokesperson of the ÖVP, Ingrid Korosec, questioned the sensibility of today's meeting. Ten days before the election, it would be "smarter" if the representatives were out with the citizens, she pointed out. The special state parliament session is just a "populist story." The problems are known. "Yes, urgent reforms are needed in the Vienna Health Association," Korosec stated. Operating rooms should, for example, remain open longer. Patient flows should also be better managed.
SPÖ Recalled Nursing Offensive
For the SPÖ, the deputy Andrea Mautz assured that work is being done on a needs-based healthcare system in Vienna. She recalled the ongoing nursing offensive and construction measures: "By 2030, the Vienna clinics will be comprehensively renovated and modernized." What happens when the FPÖ is in charge is shown by the propagated patient billion and the so-called reform of the health insurance funds. The then blue minister later said herself that the billion was just a PR stunt, said Mautz.
(APA/Red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.