There are currently more than 73,000 people in need of care in Saarland, of whom around 13,000 live in care homes. Of these, well over 10,000 people are so severely restricted in their movement that they are unable to visit a normal doctor's surgery for an examination. Until now, they have been admitted to clinics in Saarland for medical examinations. The transport and the unfamiliar surroundings are perceived as very stressful by the people, who often have multiple illnesses. Professor Dr Klaus Faßbender, Director of the Department of Neurology at Saarland University Hospital, and his team have developed a comprehensive concept for mobile diagnostics to alleviate the suffering of elderly patients and relieve the burden on hospital emergency departments. This concept was recently presented at the Homburg Forum.
Under the motto "If the patient can't come to the diagnostic centre, it will come to them", a "model vehicle" equipped with medical diagnostics similar to an emergency room is to be deployed from the beginning of 2025 on a doctor's prescription. The data and images collected using a computer tomograph, X-ray, ultrasound, ECG, EEG and laboratory will be transmitted from the vehicle via telemedicine to the clinics involved in the contract, such as the University Hospital in Homburg and the Caritas Hospital in Lebach, where they will be analysed by experts from various specialist disciplines.
The examination results are communicated as quickly as possible to the responsible doctor and the nursing home for the initiation of follow-up medical care in the familiar environment.
This model, which is unique in Germany, is intended to reduce the burden on nursing home residents and nursing teams, relieve the burden on hospital emergency departments and strengthen GP care in nursing homes without restricting the quality of medical diagnoses and therapies.
The success of this technical and medical innovation depends on the co-operation of many partners. The lorry equipped with modern medical equipment must be prescribed by the general practitioners of the nursing home residents and proactively requested by the facilities.
The Saarpfalz district is happy to become a regional supporter of this federal model.
District Administrator Dr Theophil Gallo: "The Saarpfalz district is happy to support this pilot project. I hope that there will be fewer short-term hospital stays for people in need of care, which is particularly stressful for this group of people, and thus an improvement in the care situation. At the same time, I also assume that the possibility of mobile diagnostics will relieve the burden on nursing staff in the facilities."
After a successful pilot programme with around 50 care facilities and around 4,500 patients, "mobile diagnostics" is to be available as standard care in the future. There is also a particular need for action in Saarland. Together with Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland leads the country by a considerable margin when it comes to "short hospital stays", which also includes admissions of care home residents that are not necessary.
The "Team Faßbender" is optimistic. Although it is still in the start-up phase, the response has been remarkable: doctors in private practice are offering to participate, care home managers are asking about the final start date, clinic directors are offering to contribute their specialist expertise and "politicians are already asking how the model can become a rule once it has been successfully implemented", says Prof. Faßbender.