Doctor shortage looms
The Swiss Health Observatory, a unit of the Federal Statistics Office, is warning that there could be a serious shortfall of doctors by 2030.
The observatory reckons that doctors will not be able to handle 30 per cent of consultations needed by patients.
People over the age of 65 already account for nearly a third of all visits – currently 36.1 million – to doctors’ surgeries. By 2030, that age group will have increased significantly and the number of doctors will have probably dropped.
The observatory expects requested consultations to be higher than 40 million in just over two decades time, but medical staff will not be able handle more than 28.8 million.
The expected decline in doctor numbers is blamed on factors such as retirements, restricted access to medical studies and restrictions on new practices.
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