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– Over the weekend alone I reported four deviations. It’s frustrating, because you don’t know what happens next. You report, but then nothing happens, says the health professional at the Health Center in Tromsø, Elisabeth Konradsen.
She is one of many people who have recently reported workplace nonconformities.
Healthcare professional Elisabeth Konradsen is one of many who experience that the discrepancies she reports are not followed up.
Photo: Marita Andersen / NRK
Lack of staff creates high work pressure and employees experience that reported deviations are not taken seriously.
– We do not think it is okay that we do not have time to take care of wounds or to ensure that those who need additional nutrition receive it. We see a lot of weight loss in some patients. There’s just a lot of pressure, says nursing assistant Brian A. Hole.
– I have not received a response to any of the discrepancies, and it is reprehensible.
It was in Tromsø that the case was first mentioned.
– Concerned about patient safety
The Tromsø Health Center receives patients who need treatment before or after hospitalization. The house opened in 2017 and has 69 beds.
Since the inauguration, there have been several warnings about inhumane conditions in the workplace and that patient safety is not being cared for well enough.
Kirsti Løvli is a nurse and has worked in the rehabilitation department of the Health Center for the last year. She has submitted around 30 non-compliance reports to management about misoperation, but also does not experience being taken seriously.
– No one in the department has an overview or is responsible for the medical team. We constantly have erroneous measurements and we have to take a blood sample and send it to the hospital for analysis because we cannot trust our own equipment, says Løvli.
Kirsti Løvli has recently completed a temporary position in the Helsehuset rehabilitation department. She is not happy with the way the department is run.
Photo: private photo
He has also reported comments from relatives who respond to the follow-up that patients receive.
– It is, among other things, a great loss of weight in patients. I have reported that we lack tea, butter and that the food is not arranged for those who need extra food because they are undernourished, he says.
– I am sincerely concerned about the safety of the patients in the ward.
– Takes alerts very seriously
The acting head of the home services section in the municipality of Tromsø admits that they have received several hundred reports of non-compliance.
– We take deviations very seriously and we continuously work with improvement works in the Health Center. All employees will receive a response to the discrepancies they have submitted, says Roar Evjen.
Right now, there are ten man-years of missing nurses at the Health Center. Evjen says recruiting people is a challenge.
– We must work to increase the reputation to be able to recruit people. It is a very good workplace.
Acting Head of Home Services Section in Tromsø Municipality, Roar Evjen, realizes that something must be done to improve the situation at the Health Center.
Photo: Marita Andersen / NRK
The leader of the Conservative Party group in Tromsø, Erlend Svardal Bøe, reacts to the fact that there are constantly new reports of critical conditions at the Health Center. He believes that politicians must act.
– This is also a question of workload and finances, and it is the politicians who are responsible. Here we must propose some immediate measures to improve the situation of employees who do a very good job, but who are heavily burdened by the economy in which the municipality is located.
Conservative Erlend Svardal Bøe calls for immediate action.
Photo: Marita Andersen / NRK
The municipality of Tromsø has had financial problems for several years. Last year, many took to the streets to demonstrate against the health cuts.
Svardal Bøe believes that there is a limit to savings measures.
– Life and health must come first, and then we must prioritize differently in the budget.
