The use of temporary workers in nursing homes and hospitals has long been a hot topic: some time ago, Berlin wanted to completely ban temporary work in nursing via a Federal Council initiative, in Bavaria the state nursing rate commission limited it to "operationally necessary situations" in December.

But as unloved as temporary work is in parts of politics and with some institutions - it is currently needed more than ever.

Britta Beeger

Editor in Business.

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This is also due to the upcoming vaccination requirement, which will apply from mid-March in nursing homes, hospitals, outpatient services, medical practices and emergency services.

The inquiries have therefore risen sharply, reports Matthias Hiepko, Managing Director of the Hamburg personnel service provider Avanti, which specializes in the medical field and, among other things, hires out nurses and geriatric nurses as well as staff for anesthesia and intensive care.

"However, we are fully booked and actually always have to cancel."

This is currently the case for many other companies in the highly fragmented and still rather small market.

In Germany there are only a few large personnel service providers who place temporary workers in care, but there are all the more small and micro-enterprises.

They have all been unable to save themselves from inquiries since the beginning of the Corona crisis.

Because even in the clinics and homes, employees fall ill with Corona again and again or have to be quarantined - and thus temporarily replaced.

Adecco from Switzerland, for example, currently has around 1,800 nursing staff on duty, around three times as many as before the pandemic, reports public affairs manager Martin Heinen.

He expects that the need for vaccination will continue to increase.

The demand is just too great

This is already the case with other companies.

"We notice very strongly that the inquiries have increased," says Christian Baumann, Managing Director of Pluss Personnel Management, one of the larger personnel service providers in the care sector.

Baumann is also the chairman of the Association of German Temporary Employment Agencies, one of the two employers' associations in the industry.

Many of his customers wrote their rosters for March at the end of January, and Pluss employees then filled in the gaps.

He still has a hidden reserve for short-term inquiries, says Baumann, even if that is a business risk for him.

“We do this so that we can support our customers in emergencies.” In principle, however, he “of course cannot meet the increased demand for fully vaccinated nursing staff,” says Baumann.

However, the talks with temporary employment agencies show that there are definitely differences, regionally, but also between nursing and geriatric care.

Avanti is mainly contacted by clinics looking for intensive care and anesthesiologists – and fully vaccinated.

In geriatric care, on the other hand, many facilities in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Bavaria would apparently adjust to the fact that the health authorities would not initially impose any bans on entry or employment, says Avanti Managing Director Hiepko.

They also ask him about unvaccinated nurses.

First of all, no nationwide employment bans

Other temporary employment agencies have had similar experiences when interacting with their customers.

In fact, the health authorities have a discretionary power to ensure that care is guaranteed, as the federal and state governments just reaffirmed at the Prime Ministers' Conference last week.

It is already becoming apparent that there will not be immediate nationwide bans on entry and employment for nursing staff and other employees in nursing homes and hospitals in Germany in mid-March.

Thuringia has even announced that unvaccinated nurses will not be subject to such bans until late July or early August.

Nevertheless, many temporary employment agencies currently have more inquiries than they can accept - especially since the vaccination obligation also applies to their employees if they are to be used in the affected facilities.

Pluss managing director Baumann has hired a doctor who conducts informative talks with the employees.

Because even in his company there is a hard core of people who refuse to vaccinate, which he has not been able to reach so far, says Baumann.

He has not given up yet, in this respect he feels like his customers: "We cannot afford to lose even a single nurse."