Medical care to be maintained across the board

Saxony wants to equip itself for the future with a new hospital plan. The cabinet in Dresden has now set itself targets. The top priority remains high-quality, future-proof and comprehensive care, said Social Affairs and Health Minister Petra Köpping (SPD).

Concrete individual decisions on what treatments the individual hospitals will offer in future are to be made in the course of this year.

Köpping said: "Low birth rates, an ageing population, the shortage of specialists and the hospital reform make changes necessary in Saxony's hospital landscape."

Not every hospital should have to do everything

"Hospitals are forced to develop further, our common goal must be to create stable, sustainable, viable and future-proof structures. Not every specialty needs to be available everywhere, but patient care must still be ensured in the regions," said Köpping. "If every hospital wants to do everything, this means that quality will be compromised."

According to Köpping, adjustments have been made repeatedly over the years in order to ensure the best possible treatment. However, they have not yet reached the end of the road. "The aim is to position the hospital locations in such a way that they are easily accessible for people in the respective region and beyond and can ensure a good quality of treatment." There are currently 75 hospital locations in Saxony.

Federal hospital reform forces changes

The first part of the 2026 hospital plan will continue to contain general principles. As part of the federal government's hospital reform, there will be a change in the system - instead of specialist areas, there will be service groups in future. The current 20 or so specialist areas will be divided into more than 60 nationwide service groups.

Concrete individual decisions on the hospitals are to be made in the course of this year. Then it will be clear who will offer what in future. The Medical Service is currently still checking whether the hospitals meet the minimum requirements for the respective service groups. The examinations should be completed by the end of July. Then the decisions will be prepared, which will result in decisions for the individual hospitals, it was said. Discussions will be held with the hospitals regarding each vote. They also have the option of appealing against decisions.

Comprehensive care network to be retained

However, key principles of the previous hospital planning will continue to apply. "The tiered network of evenly distributed and supplementary hospitals across the state will be maintained: Maximum care providers and specialist hospitals flank existing standard and specialist care providers throughout the state," the ministry announced. Individual hospitals act as beacons for certain areas. The hospital plan is to apply from 2027.