[ad_1]
On Monday 23 doctors from Narvik, Tromsø, Trondheim, Bergen and Stavanger went on strike.
Today, the medical association announces an escalation starting next Monday. The expansion of the conflict applies to the following municipalities:
• Municipality of Karasjok: 2 people
• Municipality of Kautokeino: 2 people
• Hasvik Municipality: 1 person
• Municipality of Herøy in Møre og Romsdal: 3 people
• Municipality of Vang: 2 people (also employed in the municipality of Nord-Aurdal)
• Municipality of Nord-Aurdal: 2 people (also employed in the municipality of Vang)
• Municipality of Sirdal: 2 people
A total of 35 doctors will be on strike as of Monday, November 2.
– The public will notice the escalation in the sense that there will likely be a longer wait time for emergency rooms in the municipalities that withdraw, says GP and elected representative Finn Høivik in the municipality of Trondheim for NRK.
He thinks it shows how fragile the emergency room scheme is.
Mediation on the special agreement, which regulates outpatient care, community medicine and working conditions for newly graduated doctors, was interrupted on October 15. There has been no contact between the parties following the breach in the Ombudsman.
– The reason doctors are now increasing abstinence is that we don’t feel like KS finds us at all. There has been no movement, and then we have to do it, says Høivik.
Marit Hermansen, president of the Norwegian Medical Association, says that KS for many years rejected any settlement solution that reduced the workload of emergency doctors.
KS in dialogue with municipalities
– KS regrets that the Norwegian Medical Association is exposing the inhabitants to this, especially at the moment we are in now, says Tor Arne Gangsø, director of working life at KS.
Photo: Vidar Ruud / NTB scanpix
KS is now in dialogue with the municipalities that will be affected by the strike starting Monday, so that we can quickly assess what consequences it will have for the inhabitants.
– When the Norwegian Medical Association now chooses to affect small municipalities with few GPs, municipalities must carry out comprehensive evaluations of whether the strike may represent a danger to the life and health of the inhabitants, says the director of working life Tor Arne Gangsø at KS.
Doctors respond
– Shifts too long
The core of the dispute in the conflict between doctors and municipalities is the emergency room scheme.
All municipalities in Norway have an emergency room plan for immediate 24-hour medical care. The hours doctors work here are at the top of the workweek as a regular doctor. This means that there are often long shifts, especially for doctors working in the districts.
Too long, according to the Norwegian Medical Association.
The Norwegian Medical Association refers to a study by the Norwegian Health Directorate that found that a quarter of doctors in small municipalities had more than 52.8 hours of emergency care per week.
The medical association requires that physicians work no more than seven hours of emergency care per week, which corresponds to 28 hours of emergency care.
If doctors exceed their demand, it will spell the end of the emergency room scheme in many municipalities, according to health and care manager Alt Lorentsen in Karlsøy municipality in northern Norway:
Demand attack during a pandemic
– It is always demanding to strike health service employees. This delicate balance stands out especially in an uncertain pandemic situation. In this sample, we have taken out some doctors. The sample illustrates how fragile the organization of the emergency room is, especially in district municipalities, says Marit Hermansen in a press release.
The district municipality health manager says they can’t offer an emergency room if doctors get their wish
