Not only obstetrics suffers, Charité disappoints overall according to survey

"A team of reporters from "Stern" and RTL reveals: The conditions at the Berlin Charité are causing considerable concern among the hospital's doctors. 80 percent of doctors give the hospital's quality of care a grade of 4 or worse.

Around 200 doctors at Berlin's Charité are apparently concerned about the safety of patients in Germany's most famous clinic. In a previously unpublished survey, they gave a devastating assessment of the quality of care in their own hospital, with more than 80 percent of the 200+ respondents giving the hospital grades four, five or six. This is reported by "Stern" and RTL.

A team of reporters has uncovered grievances at the clinic after months of research. They also have two surveys that reveal a blatant contradiction between expectations and reality. More than 200 doctors from several locations and clinics, from beginners to senior physicians, took part in the internal survey among Charité doctors on the quality of treatment.

When asked "How do you rate the quality of patient care under the current working conditions?" 44 percent answered "poor" and 8 percent answered "unsatisfactory" - that is, more than half gave a grade of five or six. 29 percent answered "sufficient". Only one doctor, however, said "very good".

Prospective doctors do not recommend Charité

In a second survey, the Marburger Bund doctors' union asked more than 200 prospective doctors - students in their practical year - about their experiences in Berlin hospitals. About half worked on a ward at the Charité. A good two-thirds of them said they would not recommend the Charité as a teaching hospital to other students. Among those who had been to other Berlin hospitals, the ratio was the opposite: a good two out of three of the students recommended their hospital. And overall, only ten percent felt "well prepared" for everyday working life as a result of the practical year. The results were "frightening" and "cannot be sugarcoated," said Peter Bobbert, chairman of the Berlin/Brandenburg regional association of the Marburger Bund.

Board of hospital operator "Many important issues will not be resolved by reform"

In response to a query from "Stern" and RTL, a lawyer for the Charité said that the Charité was not aware of the two surveys and that their results were "not representative" anyway. The lawyer also referred to rankings according to which the Charité is regularly named one of the best hospitals internationally.

The Charité - like other large hospitals - is expected to be one of the financial beneficiaries of the hospital reform that Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach is currently preparing. According to its own information, it employs around 5,700 doctors and researchers."