In the last few days, there has been a storm around two of Norway’s largest hospitals. At Ahus, doctors say that they would rather be hit than go to work, e-mails show NRK mentions.
Just a few days earlier, 14 out of 24 nurses at the Thorax clinic at Oslo University Hospital handed in mass resignations, in protest against the hospital management.
The management at OUS wants to create a joint department for heart surgery at the hospital, so that the department at Ullevål disappears.
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– Intensive care nurses cannot be responsible for what happens. In addition, we have the feeling that the management has not given us any clear information, but a proposal where we do not know what will happen in the future, says Stine Molvær Nesseth, shop steward at OUS.
OUS replies that the media reports make it difficult to establish a good dialogue and should rather be resolved internally.
– We spend a lot of time on dialogue meetings with everyone involved to move the dialogue from the media and into our business where it belongs. Our hope is to find good solutions internally, writes Bjørn Bendz, clinic manager at OUS, in an e-mail to Nettavisen.
Read the full response from Oslo University Hospital at the bottom of the case.
Concerned about the patients
The patient and user ombudsman in Oslo and Viken, Anna Ryymin, says they have experienced an increase in complaints related to Ahus and OUS.
– It is in the summer that we will really feel the consequences of the mass redundancies at OUS, when they come into effect at the same time as the joint holiday starts, Ryymin tells Nettavisen.
Now she fears the worst for the patients at two of Norway’s largest hospitals.
– I am terribly afraid that this will affect patient safety, she says.
Nesseth is also worried about the patients. Today, she states that close to 200 are on the waiting list for heart operations and that the list will not get any shorter if the dismissals take effect. On the other hand, she allows the nurses to withdraw their resignations, if the management at the hospital comes up with a better solution to the problem.
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– We are afraid that the patients will have to wait so long that they die, or that they will have a worse outcome post-operatively, than if they could be operated on in time, she tells Nettavisen.
Fears weakened trust
– This seems like a conflict that has been going on for a long time, but the patients become the injured third party, who has nothing to do with the conflict. It worries me, I must say, she adds
She wonders what the conflicts are doing to the patients’ trust in the health service.
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– I had become worried if I was to be admitted to one of those hospitals, because a good working environment is important for good treatment. A poor working environment has consequences for patients.
Now the employees at OUS will have a meeting in the future about whether to carry out the dismissals, or withdraw them.
– I think we can find a solution together with the management if we continue to have a good dialogue that was started at the meeting yesterday, says Nesseth.
– No reason to worry
OUS has replied to Nettavisen by e-mail:
“We think it is unfortunate that so much of the communication has taken place in the media in the last week. This makes it difficult to have a good dialogue and it unfortunately means that our reputation is affected in a negative way, also considering the trust patients have in the treatment they receive. It is important for us to emphasize that there is no reason for such concern. We ensure quality and readiness.
We spend a lot of time on dialogue meetings with everyone involved to move the dialogue from the media and into our business where it belongs. Our hope is to find the good solutions internally.”
