A police patrol car, three officers, paramedics and four ambulances were recently called to a care home in Berlin to help a nurse find a night shift staff member to take over after she was due to clock off.

Police called to elderly care home in Berlin

A woman working at an elderly care home in Berlin called the police after she was due to finish her shift at 10.30pm and nobody was on-site to take over her duties.

After contacting nursing home management but failing to get through, the nurse called the police and emergency services, who turned up at the home and helped her find a qualified replacement.

During night shifts, a nurse qualified to administer certain medicines must be on duty to care for the home’s 170 residents. The home in Berlin-Lichtenberg is one of 49 across Germany run by the company, Domicil.

After contacting the Catastrophe Protection Commissioner at the Lichtenberg district office, a qualified nurse was finally reached and began the emergency shift just after midnight.

Germany desperately needs care workers to plug shortage

In the grips of a nationwide, record-breaking worker shortage, an increasing number of industries in Germany desperately need new employees.

With just 5 million nursing staff currently working in Germany and an ageing population, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) estimates that the country will need between 280.000 and 690.000 more carers by 2049.

Germany’s Triple Win programme, launched in 2013, aims to recruit nurses from non-EU countries, specifically Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Philippines, Tunisia, Indonesia and India.

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