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– They are expensive and short-term solutions for municipalities. Instead, the money should have been spent on permanent, full-time nursing positions. One hundred percent working nurses are for the benefit of patients and society, Lill Sverresdatter Larsen, leader of the Norwegian Nurses Association (NSF), tells FriFagbevegelse.
Together with Burson Cohn & Wolfe, the association has mapped how much municipalities spend on hiring surrogates in the health and care sector.
1.2 billion in temperatures
Last year, the municipal service spent just over NOK 1.2 billion, an increase of almost NOK 600 million from 2012 and NOK 65 million more than in 2018.
– This is unfortunate for society, and patients have to deal with many different nurses who do not know the local conditions, says the leader of the NSF.
Language problems
In some cases, there may also be language problems. Recently, Sverresdatter Larsen received a query from several nurses in a municipality. It was about nursing homes and home service suddenly had more substitutes with Spanish as their mother tongue. They spoke very little Norwegian and little English.
– Language and communication are essential for patient safety and quality of services. The permanent, trained staff makes it safer for patients and creates a professional environment that is good for retaining staff and improving hiring, he says.
The three municipalities with the highest spending on temporary agency acquisitions last year were Oslo, Bergen and Trondheim.
Oslo’s expenditures were NOK 83 million in 2019 versus 81 million the previous year, while Bergen and Trondheim spent 59 million and 44 million respectively versus 39 million and 12 million the year before.
