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As a result of the current crown crisis in Sweden, three regions and the labor organization Sobona have decided to activate a crisis agreement, several Swedish media report.
The agreement means that working hours are increased to 48 hours per week and so-called “emergency overtime” can be imposed in addition to normal working hours. It also allows for the loan of employees between affected regions. In return, they receive double pay.
The agreement has been activated for the employees of the intensive care units in Stockholm, Gävleborg and Västra Götaland.
In recent weeks, there have been reports of a wide spread of the infection and a shortage of health personnel in intensive care units in several Swedish regions.
– has done everything
Jeanette Hedberg, deputy director of the Swedish municipalities and regions (SKR), describes the situation as tense.
– Both municipalities and regions have crisis plans with a ladder of action. The last resort is the crisis agreement. It is the employers who must request that the agreement be activated, then it is SKR who makes the decision, Hedberg tells TT.
It is supported by Joakim Larsson, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the SKR negotiating delegation.
– All three regions have done all that is reasonably necessary to ensure staffing and take advantage of all opportunities under the ordinary collective agreement. Therefore, we chose, in collaboration with the request of the regions, to activate the crisis agreement in these three regions, says Larsson in a press release.
– The cap is much longer
Stockholm’s health service is on its knees and the situation is described as much worse than this spring. There is no indication that it will change rapidly.
– This spring, the need for medical care increased rapidly and decreased rapidly again. Now the peak will continue week after week, says Stockholm region health and care director Björn Eriksson.
Eriksson will not set a limit on capacity. He says it increases as the need increases. Instead, the limitation lies in how long the pressure on the health system will last.
– The peak is much longer than this spring. It has been going on since November. Even though we don’t have as many covid patients now, the burden on the healthcare system is at least as great as we have many more non-covid-19 patients, he says.
Light up the tunnel
The hospital region sees no signs that the situation is about to change or that it will change in the near future.
– There is nothing more important than slowing the spread of infection, but we don’t see any signs of that, says Eriksson.
He believes that the vast majority of the people in the region follow the guidelines. However, the infection remains at an elevated level.
– Stockholm residents follow the recommendations to a large extent, but since the spread of the infection has not changed, it is not maintained, he says.
