Future of care: This is how BRK and VdK want to help in the district!

Future of care: This is how BRK and VdK want to help in the district!

In a significant meeting on August 25, 2025, Gerhard Gansl from the BRK Deggendorf district association and Helmut Plenk from the VdK social association met to discuss the challenges in the care sector. The discussions focused on the topics of care, staff shortages and the future direction of care offerings. Both interviewees agree that for many people it is desirable to stay in their own four walls for as long as possible. Plenk also made it clear how difficult it is to look after older people who can no longer live alone. This concern is particularly acute in today's society as the number of people in need of care continues to rise. An important topic that was also on the discussion agenda is the implementation of new legal regulations to improve care.

In connection with the challenges in care, reference was also made to the tariff compliance regulation introduced in 2021. The aim is to increase the attractiveness of nursing professions by promoting collectively agreed remuneration. From September 1, 2022, only care facilities that can demonstrably apply collective agreements or church labor law regulations may be permitted to provide care. Alternatively, the facilities must pay their employees at least the amount of a regionally applicable collective agreement. These regulations are set out in Section 72 Paragraph 3a and b SGB XI and serve to refinance collective bargaining agreements by the nursing care funds. By the way, the AOK Federal Association reported that the number of collectively agreed care facilities increased from 34% to 36% in 2024.

New cooperation in the care sector

In addition to these discussions between the BRK and VdK, there was recently a significant agreement between the BRK and VdK Bavaria. The two organizations have launched a cooperation for the BRK home emergency call. This was made more concrete on Thursday by VdK managing director Maik Kinski and BRK district managing director Robert Kießling. The aim of this collaboration is to offer a joint range of services for people in social emergencies, which includes legal and technical advice on social issues as well as qualified assistance.

In order to strengthen cooperation, regular exchanges of information and the organization of joint information events are planned. The mutual communication of customer inquiries is also on the agenda. Kießling emphasized that this meeting sealed the path to a common future for the citizens of the Miesbach district. Such initiatives are important to meet the challenges of nursing care, especially given increasing demands and ongoing staff shortages.

Conclusion on cooperation and nursing development

The challenges in the care sector are enormous, but the cooperation between the BRK and VdK shows that there are numerous initiatives to improve the situation. However, it remains to be seen how effective the new legal regulations will be on wages and working conditions in nursing. According to the latest reports, the wages of nursing assistants and nursing specialists rose by a remarkable 8% in 2024, which has positive signaling effects, but also influences the personal contributions of those in need of care. The Federal Ministry of Health plans to evaluate the effects of the tariff compliance regulations by the end of 2025. It remains exciting to see what further steps are taken to make care in old age fit for the future.

For further information about the challenges in care, those interested can read the reports from pnp.de and Visit kvmiesbach.brk.de and generationenrechte-pflege.de.