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Stockholm County Finance Council responds to harsh criticism
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Karolinska Hospital will hire external operational teams at the same time as its own staff is notified.
Finanslandstingsrådet Iréne Svenonius believes that it is not optimal, but necessary.
– All patients should be operated as soon as possible, he says in an interview with Aftonbladet.
Criticism has been harsh against Karolinska for going ahead with warning hundreds of doctors and nursing assistants when queues for care must be skimmed.
At the same time, the hospital enlists the help of staffing companies to handle all operations. An absurd situation, says for example Johan Sand, anesthesia nurse at Karolinska Huddinge.
Iréne Svenonius, M, as the chief policy officer for health care in the Stockholm region, wants to mitigate the threats of dismissal. She thinks it is not safe that someone needs to go. And it defends the hiring of personnel.
“You want to reduce suffering”
– We still do not know if someone will leave Karolinska, says the County Council of Finance. What you have been warned about is that you need to make personnel changes. The number of employees in some operations increases and decreases in others.
– Hiring an operational team as the hospital has done, it is about wanting to touch the waiting times for surgeries and treatments that have become the result of covid-19. Every patient should have their surgery as soon as possible. They want to reduce the suffering of those who have been waiting, for example, for hip surgery.
Why can’t existing staff do this job?
– It is about the knowledge that the staff has. To carry out operations and assist in operations, advanced operations, specialized competence is required. And if you work in a completely different business in Karolinska, it is not easy to go and just stand up and help a doctor during an operation.
Photo: Magnus Wennman
The Irene Svenonius County Finance Council in Stockholm County visits the local Nacka hospital.
“The queues are leaving next summer”
According to information Svenonius received from Karolinska, the queues are expected to disappear next summer.
But hiring external staff, is that the only solution?
– Of course, hiring staff is not an optimal solution. We always want permanent staff because it gives continuity to the work team and, therefore, also provides higher quality to patients.
– At the same time, I would like to emphasize: within several of these operations, Karolinska continues to increase its staff and employs nurses. The hospital’s strategy since the beginning of 2019 has been to increase the number of nurses throughout its operation in order to perform operations and have more open care positions.
Waiting for a prompt notification
You say no one may need to stop at Karolinska, how does that go along with the warnings that still remain?
– The hospital has said that it needs to make changes to the number of employees due to the fact that the hospital has received new assignments. It should increase in some activities and decrease in others. Notify means saying that we need to review how we are going to implement this change.
– And we have normal staff turnover, which means that at the beginning of this year, the notice given in November was cut by more than half. Now, early this fall, he will pass again and see how the situation is right now. The notice is about 250 people.
– I hope, of course, that the hospital will inform the staff about the evaluations as soon as possible. Are there notices that lead to regular layoffs? Or do you think you can handle changes in your workforce in other ways?
Photo: Magnus Wennman
Irene Svenonius, Stockholm County Finance Councilor, visits the local Nacka hospital. Th Henrik Waara, head of shame.
“May change again”
Are you not worried that the preparation for a new corona wave will deteriorate if this reduction takes place?
– I am completely convinced that both Karolinska and our other hospitals that changed and aligned enormously during covid-19 can do it again if necessary!
How would you like to describe preparing for fall?
– Very good! Our hospital operations work together more closely than ever. That is one of the benefits that we have achieved during the pandemic. Hospitals cooperate, help each other, plan together and this means that we are much better prepared than before.
– And now we have, compared to February 2020, an incredibly much closer collaboration with the care of the elderly of the municipalities.
Photo: Magnus Wennman
The Irene Svenonius County Finance Council in Stockholm County visits the local Nacka hospital.
“Safe with patient safety”
Can you guarantee that patient safety is not compromised?
– Patient safety is an operational responsibility. Our doctors, our hospital managers and our operational managers in health centers are responsible for patient safety. In politics, we say that patient safety must always come first. It is the cornerstone of health care.
And how do you think it works in practice?
– I feel a great sense of security with the high competition that exists in the care of Stockholm. We have doctors, nurses, nursing assistants who have great knowledge.
There are personnel who have worked 12 to 13 hours a day, more than 65 hours a week and who think that you politicians have not understood the effort you have made. There are those who think that your stomach knots when you hear the leader speak. Is it something you recognize?
– So is! We have seen it! We are deeply impressed by your efforts. And that’s also why it was so incredibly important to us to make sure that everyone at Stockholm Care who wanted could have a four-week vacation this summer. We have married throughout our organization to make it possible.
“2 billion from the state”
Next week, the Stockholm region will submit a first state application for just over SEK 2 billion, money that will cover the costs incurred for medical care during the pandemic.
– Our employees established something huge during covid-19 and I have great expectations that the Minister of Finance will see the need in the health system for additional resources, says Iréne Svenonius. So that we can manage 2021 in a good way for the good of the staff and so that our patients receive care on time.
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