– It is irresponsible to make plans that we know cannot be carried out, says Christian Grimsgaard.
The senior physician is a trustee on the board of Helse Sør-East (HSØ). The health region covers an area of over 3 million people.
Now Grimsgaard is warning against a coming crisis.
NRK explains
What is the health enterprise model?
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Owned by “company”
Norway has a health enterprise model. It means that the hospitals are owned by companiescompanies, owned by the state.
They are largely run as private companies, but cannot go bankrupt because they are state-owned.
The model is controlled by law for healthcare undertakings.
That’s how it works
Norway is divided into four health regions: North, West, Central Norway and South-East.
Each region has its own regional health undertakings.
Each of the regional health organizations owns several healthcare institutions.
Every healthcare provider operates several hospitals or treatment sites.
Some examples
Confusing? Here are examples:
Helse Nord owns both Nordlandssykehuset, Finnmarkssykehuset and University Hospital North-NorwayHealth South-East owns, among other things, Oslo University Hospital, Sørlandet hospital and Sykehuset Innlandet
Hospitals and companies
The healthcare organizations often have hospitals in their name, but many of them run many hospitals:
For example, both Ullevål Hospital and Rikshospitalet are part of Oslo University Hospital. And both the hospital in Stokmarknes and the hospital in Bodø belong to Nordlandssykehuset.
That’s how the organization is
Staten
↓
Regional healthcare organizations (such as Helse Nord, Helse West)
↓
Healthcare organizations (Oslo University Hospital, Nordlandssykehuset)
↓
Individual hospitals (such as Drammen Hospital, Ullevål)
Requirements for savings
In the Act on healthcare undertakings, there is a requirement that the healthcare undertakings must have equity that is “in a reasonable proportion to the undertaking’s operations.”
Simply explained, this means that the healthcare organizations are obliged to have money in their account. If they have too little money, they have to find measures that make them get more money – save more.
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More work – fewer people
For the health region’s plans for the next few years are clear:
More patients will receive help than today Waiting times will decrease Hospitals will make hundreds of millions more annually
At the same time, it is planned to cut the number of positions.
That calculation does not add up, believes Ida Ringerud.
– You must be educated at Hogwarts and know magic to achieve that.
Ringerud started the campaign #legermåleve after a friend and colleague took her own life.
– Doctors are a professional group that keeps their mouths shut until it’s no longer possible. When we speak up, it’s actually serious right away.
Ringerud is both a GP and works in a hospital. She is very concerned about developments in the healthcare system.
– And then I’m scared. On behalf of the mental and physical health of my colleagues. But I am most afraid of patient safety, she says.
The fear is that people will not get enough information. That someone learns that they have a diagnosis that will change and perhaps shorten their life. Then they are left sitting alone because the doctor has to hurry on.
– It is an absolutely unbelievably inappropriate situation.
And that could be the result of plans made by Helse Sør-Ost, she fears.
Ida Marie Ringerud receives strong messages from doctors all over the country who are struggling mentally due to heavy work pressure.
Photo: Christian Ziegler Remme / NRK
Must do more
I the health region’s plans is there one thing that should make the math work out:
Increased productivity. The employees must do more than today.
– It is completely unrealistic, says union representative Christian Grimsgaard.
Because employees are already exhausted and have been under pressure for many years, he believes.
– When the shoe just gets tighter and tighter, you either have to wear bigger shoes or amputate the foot. What is planned so far is to amputate the foot, says Ida Ringerud.
It is not about every employee running faster, replies Helse Sør-Öst. But about using resources better and operating more efficiently.
– Increased productivity is achieved by adopting more modern equipment, ICT solutions and buildings. And by continuously working on measures that improve operations, such as division of tasks, says HSØ’s financial director Line Alfarrustad.
Fewer doctors – more nursing assistants
They want healthcare professionals and nursing assistants to do some of what nurses and doctors do today.
They will have more of them in a few years.
At the same time, they want down in doctor and nurse positions:
They are planning 200 fewer doctor positions in 2027 than today They have already started cutting back on nurses this year – in four years they will have 400 fewer positions than last year They are also planning fewer psychologist positions starting next year
But not everything is a real decline, says Alfarrustad. Because those on sick leave and their substitutes are also included in the figures. Sickness absence will decrease in the next few years, she believes, and then some of the part-time jobs will disappear.
In the last ten years, the biggest growth has been in positions for doctors, psychologists and psychiatrists, according to her.
In the coming years, however, it is pharmacy positions and operations/IT positions that will increase the most.
Finance director Line Alfarrustad says several of their healthcare companies had higher productivity before the pandemic than now. It shows that it is possible, she believes.
– A crisis situation
Almost all the health enterprises in the region are getting cuts. The hardest hit is beyond Oslo University Hospital (Ous) and Vestre Viken.
Vestre Viken, which runs Bærum, Ringerike and Drammen hospitals, among others, will lose almost 5 percent of all the positions they have today.
At the same time, savings must be made.
– That will not be possible without you significantly cutting the offer to patients, says union representative Grimsgaard.
The goal is for Helse Sør-Øst’s company to make a profit of 1.5-2 billion each year going forward.
The main reason is that savings must be made for new hospital buildings. Among other things, new hospitals in Oslo.
– This is a situation we have steered ourselves into. It is the politicians who have actively been a driving force to carry out these huge projects, says Grimsgaard.
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2023-10-09 12:17:05
#employees #numbers #educated #Hogwarts
