Dealing with refugees | Medical service in asylum home: It's not just data protection that is ignored

Accommodation for refugees Bad Sachsa: Authority draws conclusions from complaints about deficits in care, but speaks of an isolated case.

The treatment of refugees in Bad Sachsa has long been criticized - which was articulated here at a rally in front of the accommodation a year ago. Photo: Screenshot NDR An asylum seeker's complaint about disturbing incidents during her medical care in the emergency shelter for refugees in Bad Sachsa has led to consequences. The doctor criticized by the woman will no longer be employed in the medical station of the facility, said the spokeswoman for the Lower Saxony State Reception Authority (LAB NI), Nina Jahnen, on Monday to “nd”.

According to her own information, the affected person went to the facility's outpatient clinic on October 7th to ask the doctor on duty to interpret her blood values. "The doctor held my blood results in his hand and told me at the reception that they were neither good nor bad," the woman said in a letter of complaint. When she asked what exactly that meant, the man replied that blood would be taken again if the patient wasn't feeling well. She was not offered a confidential conversation to clarify the findings.

The doctor did not respond to the woman, who had been suffering from abdominal pain for a long time, to arrange an appointment with a gynecologist. Instead, the receptionist told her that she couldn't get the appointment she wanted because the pain would have to last at least three months. However, she had not previously asked how long the symptoms would last. “In fact, I have been suffering from these symptoms for much longer,” writes the asylum seeker. But neither the doctor nor the employee asked her “about the duration, intensity or specific circumstances of my pain.”

The patient complained that her name, date of birth and blood values were visible on the document. By leaving it in the door slot without an envelope, there was a risk that unauthorized persons would gain access to the confidential information.

An hour after the doctor's visit, the woman received a call: There was mail stuck in the door of her room. "When I took the document, I realized that it was a printout of my blood test results." She considers this approach to be "extremely inappropriate," complains the person affected. Medical examination results are particularly sensitive personal data. The document showed her full name, date of birth and blood values. By leaving the mail in the door slot without an envelope and without personally handing it over, there was a risk that unauthorized persons could have gained access to this confidential information.

The Göttingen Health Collective declared its solidarity with the resident. She mustered up the courage to “make her bad experiences with medical care in the accommodation public.” Her pain was not taken seriously, necessary examinations were prevented, the results of examinations were withheld from her and personal data was left unsecured on her door.

The state reception authority, as the operator of the accommodation, takes the complaint and the health collective's statement "very seriously," says spokeswoman Jahnen. However, she “expressly rejects” any generalization of grievances in medical care in Bad Sachsa. It is an unfortunate isolated case.

The authority has been working with a service company in the area of medical care since April 2024. In principle, the LAB does not have the authority to give the medical service instructions about how everyday practice should be organized. Nevertheless, all service companies are of course bound to comply with legal requirements, says Jahnen. This applies above all and in particular to compliance with data protection, medical duty of care and the protection of personal rights.

The Bad Sachsa accommodation currently accommodates around 212 people, mainly families and women and children traveling alone. According to Jahnen, medical care for the residents is provided “around the clock, seven days a week” by trained health professionals from the service company used.

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