Ten months after the introduction of the Health Platform at St. Olav’s hospital, the hospital is experiencing major problems. – We are struggling, it is terribly hard actually. That’s what Monica Engstrøm says, shop steward for the senior doctors at the surgical department. – We work at least as hard as from the start. We are constantly discovering new mistakes, we are afraid of the patients and we actually struggle with job satisfaction. It’s the heaviest thing to carry right now. 765 doctors have responded to the recent survey carried out by the Norwegian Medical Association. That is approximately 60 per cent of the doctors at St. Olav’s hospital. This is shown by the figures, according to Adresseavisen, which wrote about the case first: Almost nine out of ten of the doctors believe that patient safety is threatened because of the record system, 46 per cent to a “great extent”. 86 per cent are afraid that, because of the system, they themselves will make mistakes – either to a large extent (55 per cent) or to a moderate extent (30.9). Four out of ten doctors respond that the record system makes them either consider quitting, or actively look for a new job. Ten months after its introduction, only 6.7 per cent believe that the Health Platform will be a good work tool “in the long run”. Demanding a full stop Vivi Bakkeheim, union representative for the senior doctors at St. Olav’s hospital, tells the newspaper that they have repeatedly pointed out that the record system threatens patient safety. She tells news that the doctors are now spending a lot of extra time and effort to prevent patients from being harmed by the shortcomings in the system. This is time that should rather have been used for patient care. Vivi Bakkeheim says the doctors double-check everything they do. Photo: Bent Lindsetmo / news Bakkeheim fears the long-term consequences if the situation does not improve soon. – The doctors can do this kind of extra work for a period, but over time the warning lights will flash more faintly. That this is now taking so much time is exhausting and serious. Bakkeheim is now demanding a full stop to further rollout of the Health Platform to other hospitals, so that all available resources are used to sort out the problems. – It cannot be introduced in more places until the errors and shortcomings that we experience at St. Olav have been rectified. Now Helse Midt-Norge must take action, so that the same problems are not rolled out in the rest of the region – Concerned Helge Garåsen, chairman of the Helseplattformen, describes to news that it is “a bit of both and” ten months after introduction. – Because much of what was wrong at the start has been corrected and improved. At the same time, we see that many struggle and struggle. So there is a need to make further adjustments. He believes the survey illustrates a bit of the need to make the solution better. The fact that almost nine out of ten doctors believe patient safety is threatened, he says, is worrisome. – We must have a system where patient safety is well taken care of, says Garåsen. Helge Garåsen describes what emerges in the investigation as worrisome. Photo: Hilde Grande / news – What do you want to do? – We must ensure that what remains of errors and challenges are resolved, and then we must work on getting a better user interface, so that it will be easier for the professional communities to get their task done. – Doesn’t get better from tinkering – I say the same as from the start. The health platform is not for us, it doesn’t work, says senior physician and shop steward Engstrøm. – We must have other systems that work for our conditions and our way of working. It doesn’t get any better from the fiddling they do either. Lots of people are employed to try to improve the Health Platform as a system, but there will be no improvement. Explanatory video about the Health Platform. She describes that there are still several problems, such as the lack of control over medication, and that there are major challenges with waiting lists. She is simply afraid that patients will have shorter lives because of the Health Platform. – That’s what I’m afraid of. We will come later for diagnosis primarily, and we will come later to catch recurrence of disease. And the time aspect is very important for very many conditions. – Many are close to being burnt out, and many are considering other jobs – many more than a few months ago.
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New survey on the Health Platform – nine out of ten doctors believe patient safety is threatened – news Trøndelag – Local news, TV and radio
