Overview

• Pediatric practices in the Hanover region are so overcrowded that many have closed their patient lists because staff struggle with bureaucratic demands.
• Official demand planning data show a 119 percent coverage rate in Hanover, which legally bars new statutory-insurance physician seats.
• The Kassenärztliche Bundesvereinigung (KBV) has dismissed Verivox’s patient-to-doctor ratios as misleading and says only the Mittlerer Erzgebirgskreis qualifies as officially undersupplied.
• The Health Ministry says an evaluation committee will assess by end of 2025 how removing pediatric budget caps has affected care quality and insurance costs.
• The Lower Saxony physicians’ association is advocating for expanded telemedicine services and the introduction of Physician Assistants to ease clinic workloads.