Shortly after many intensive care nurses chose to leave the thoracic clinic at Ullevål Hospital, a new department is now following suit. – They have also seen the situation that the colleagues in the thoracic department have been through, and are simply unsafe, says union representative Sarah Scott Henriksen at the so-called stepdown department at Ullevål. This is a ward that heart and lung surgery patients come to after they have been operated on and are off ventilators. There are critically ill patients. At this department, four nurses have now resigned. In addition, eight nurses plan to leave to take further training. The department has a total of 24.5 vacancies. – Long-term insecurity and little or no information in the Thorax loop has led to many people now resigning and seeking further education, says Scott Henriksen. The OUS management rejected a proposal for a solution On Monday this week, it became known that the OUS rejects a proposal that could have prevented mass redundancies at the thoracic clinic. 16 out of 24 intensive care nurses have resigned in protest against the hospital management. The management at OUS wants to coordinate operations at Ullevål with Rikshospitalet, so that they become one center for cardiac surgery at OUS. Reorganization has also been announced this summer. Senior doctors both at the thoracic department and at other departments have been strongly critical of the reorganisation. – Affects the entire preparedness at Ullevål hospital Trustee Sarah Scott Henriksen believes the dismissals will have direct consequences for patient care. – The patients do not want the same competent nurses on duty. She believes that it will not be possible to maintain normal operations either. Trade union representative Sarah Scott Henriksen is one of the eight who have given notice of resignation because she will be taking further education. Photo: Private – It will affect the entire emergency response at Ullevål Hospital, as we have the function of receiving patients from other departments as well. And she thinks it is very sad that so much expertise disappears in a short time. – It takes a long time to retrain new employees. There is a department where you cannot start straight from the education. – You must have two years’ experience to apply at all, says Scott Henriksen. Losing confidence in OUS Scott Henriksen believes the dismissals are a signal that the employees have not been heard. The call to management is clear. – Include the employees, in the form of shop stewards and safety representatives, in such decisions. You cannot be told that decisions have already been made without discussing it with the employees. She believes it goes beyond trust. – You lose trust in an organization that operates in this way. I hope it is possible to turn around. But it doesn’t seem like they want to. The OUS management rejects criticism Heart-PO where it is already known that many have quit, and Thorax Stepdown are two units under one and the same section at the Thoracic surgery department at Ullevål. Although news has confirmed the four new resignations from several quarters, the hospital’s HR system has only registered two of them on Friday afternoon. – In total, around 50 nurses are employed in the section, and I have been informed that 18 have resigned, says Bjørn Bendz, who is head of the heart, lung and vascular clinic at OUS. This includes the 16 intensive care nurses who have been mentioned in recent weeks. The management does not want to comment on people planning to quit because they have applied for further education. Bjørn Bendz is head of the heart, lung and vascular clinic at OUS. Photo: Geir Olsen / NTB – For the past six months, we have worked to make a plan for the summer with more appropriate staffing between Rikshospitalet and Ullevål, which are one and the same department. He says that the renovation of operating theaters at Ullevål also necessitates temporary solutions this summer. And he rejects criticism for a lack of dialogue with the employees. – We can document that there has been dialogue, involvement and participation with the employees. He believes that the resources must be used where the need is greatest. First and foremost to ensure good patient care. He believes they must also ensure a fair distribution of work between the employees. – All along, good preparedness and operations at Ullevål have been the goal, says Bendz.
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New mass redundancies at Ullevål after the conflict at the heart department – news Oslo and Viken – Local news, TV and radio
