– I would ask the hospitals to look at what they can do less of, said Health Minister Ingvild Kjerkol (Ap) from the podium at St. Olav’s hospital in Trondheim last week.
That made Kjell Egil Tjosevik, who has been a nurse at Stavanger University Hospital for over 40 years, see red. In a posts on Facebook, which at the time of writing has been shared over 6,500 times, a pissed off Tjosevik makes sarcastic suggestions to the Minister of Health.
Reason to be terrified
– It is incredibly provocative that the minister says that we must consider what we can do less of. We are going full spin here, and Kjerkol’s statement makes me furious, says Tjosevik to Stavanger Aftenbladwho first mentioned the case.
– I am almost at a loss for words, he says to Dagbladet.
DEMANDING SITUATION: – I wish I was standing here today with promises of more money and better times. But I have to be honest that the demanding situation we are in now reduces the room for maneuver in the hospitals, said Minister of Health Ingvild Kjerkol (Ap) in his hospital speech last week. Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB
sea view
– Pointless
Tjosevik believes that the speech from the top shows a lack of respect.
– We who work in the healthcare system, be it Norwegian hospitals, nursing homes or in the primary healthcare service, are overworked. There are many people who need our help, but we are not given the resources we need. Then it is pointless for the Minister of Health to say that we should now look at what we should not do.
In the Facebook post, he sarcastically suggests various treatments that can be cut.
END AT 70: In a post on Facebook, Kjell Egil Tjosvik sarcastically advocates ending the treatment offer at 70. – Within a year, Norway will save a lot, he writes. Photo: Private
sea view
“Women with uterine prolapse do not need to be treated. We can avoid COPD worsening, we can cut back on prosthetic surgery. We can send births in Helse Sør-Öst to Odda. There they have midwives and an excellent gynecologist who is also a veterinarian. Which others can we stop treating? It is so incredibly difficult to find the right ones,” he writes.
Tjosevik therefore comes up with a somewhat drastic proposal.
“We set a red line at 70 years. We let everyone above sail their own sea without pills, operations and home care. Over the course of a year, Norway will save a lot. Many will not join until 2024. Home care will increase and we can fire countless health personnel”.
– Terrible
Tjosevik believes that the Norwegian healthcare system is run in a way that is increasingly reminiscent of a shop, where the aim is to get patients out of the hospital as quickly as possible in order to accept new ones.
– Many are not kept in hospital long enough for them to have the opportunity to recover before being discharged home or to a health centre, where there is neither the expertise nor enough people to carry out this work.
– The patient comes in one day and is sent on the next. Then they might come back on the third day, wearing the same patient shirt as when they left the day before. It’s terrible, he says.
– Haven’t told him
– No will
It is now high time to put the foot down, he believes.
– We have such a large influx of patients that we are not able to cope with it. Due to a lack of resources, there are messages to come to work at all hours of the day. At twelve o’clock at night there may be a message if someone is awake. “Can someone come and help us?”.
And it will get worse, says Tjosevik.
– The Norwegian healthcare system is on the way to collapse. The aging wave has only just begun, and this will only get worse if we don’t do something about it. Not everything can be solved with immediate measures, and it will be a process. But there must be a will for it, and I do not perceive that there is today.
The ABC clinic is closed down: – Madness!
– Completely necessary
Dagbladet has asked Health Minister Ingvild Kjerkol (Ap) about what she thinks about what Tjosevik says.
– As chief executive of the health and care service, I have great respect for the professionals who make it up. I was also quite clear about this in the speech. In order to preserve and strengthen our joint health service, it is absolutely necessary that we manage to retain the professionals – and recruit more. We must also ensure that the professionals can use their skills correctly – and where they are needed.
– When information is already being given about difficult conditions in the healthcare system, what will it be like when the wave of elderly people arrives in full force?
– It is the public’s responsibility, and I want to be involved in getting the solutions we need in place. We need a broad team – also in politics – to move forward. If we don’t do something now, it will get worse, says Kjerkol.
– Must consider cuts
However, it is necessary to set difficult priorities now, because of the demanding times we are facing, believes the Minister of Health.
– We must be clear that we cannot do everything. That is why I have asked the health regions to look at what they can do less of.
Among other things, the amount of laboratory and X-ray services used must be surveyed, and a look at how this overuse can be reduced, in addition to looking at which treatment methods can be cut due to little benefit.
Why is it so difficult?
– Great understanding
When asked if enough is being done to change the situation in the healthcare system, Kjerkol replies that the budget for 2023 would have been a solid increase in normal times.
– But here, as in other sectors, restructuring and measures will be necessary to deal with price and wage growth.
– At the same time, I have great understanding that the situation is demanding for the employees and will follow the situation closely. It will be important that hospitals do what they can to ensure that the load does not become greater than necessary, and that a good working environment is maintained. It is also important to safeguard patient safety.
