– If it’s a light tube on the X-ray, we can’t afford to replace it. The frames are too small. That’s according to Lena Thorsnes, corporate trustee for the Norwegian Nurses’ Association in Helse Førde, which now has a lower investment budget. Norway’s healthcare sector is headed for a deficit of billions this year, and must save several millions next year. Cuts in treatment options and longer waiting times for patients will be the consequence, believes professor of health management and health economics at the University of Oslo, Terje Hagen. Challenging recruitment for healthcare education and workplaces, in addition to the coming wave of elderly people, will lead to higher demand in the healthcare system, he explains. – We must probably expect relatively tight frameworks in the future for many, many years. Perhaps this is a permanent situation, says Hagen. The union representatives for the nurses in Helse Førde fear the consequences for both patients and the approximately 3,000 employees. From left: Lena Thorsnes, Kari Sunde Kvile and Berit Hornnes. Photo: Oddmund Reisæter Haugen / news Tighter conditions The state healthcare companies that run hospitals have had tight finances before. In recent years, several of them have still managed to turn a profit, but the margins are small. The general price increase, wage growth and interest rate shock they are now facing are causing the alarm bells to ring in hospitals Norway. At the same time, hospitals have their feet firmly planted in expensive replacement relays. In Norway, there are 20 health enterprises in addition to hospital pharmacies, which are under four regional health enterprises. Figures news has gathered opinions that many of them are heading for a deficit of millions in 2023. The hospital in Vestfold: -95 million Helse Førde: -100 million Helse Bergen: -300 million Finnmarkshykehuset: -38.7 million The hospital in Innlandet: -120 million St Olav’s hospital: -220 million Stavanger University Hospital: -64 million (as of March) Haugesund Hospital: -135 million Akershus University Hospital +23.4 million Among the local healthcare companies, there are large differences. While St. Olav’s hospital in Trondheim is 220 million in the red, Akershus University Hospital (Ahus) is in the 23 million plus. But according to the managing director of Ahus, Øystein Mæland, there is still no reason to rejoice. The company has budgeted for a surplus of NOK 70 million in 2023, but only expects to manage a third of this. High activity at the outpatient clinics and planned operations in addition to a large influx of emergency patients is the reason for the surplus, he says. – It is not that we have done something very clever that others are not also working on. There are some local differences, but we also have the general picture of challenges among healthcare companies in Norway with us. Have to cut temporary work Hagen at UiO describes the finances of hospitals as challenging but not dramatic, as he was in 2007 when the hospitals had a deficit of NOK 1.4 billion. Nevertheless, there are expected consequences. Professor of health economics, Terje P. Hagen, at UiO sees no improvement in the near term for the finances of the country’s hospitals. Photo: Peder Bergholt / news Several of the healthcare companies inform news that they must make large savings in next year’s budget. Expensive temp work is among the first items on the chopping block. Low staffing and the need for hired substitutes have for several years presented financial challenges for hospitals. In 2021, the health service spent 2.5 billion on temporary workers. By cutting this, in addition to lower recruitment, hospitals will be forced to reduce their planned activity, explains the professor. – The consequence of this is that there will be longer waiting times for some patients and diagnoses, says Hagen. The government: – Solid, but tight In the proposal for the National Budget, the government proposes to allocate 2.2 billion to hospitals. The additional allowance of NOK 4.7 billion from the revised national budget 2023 will be continued in 2024. State Secretary Karl Kristian Bekeng (Ap) of the Ministry of Health and Care says the government has taken account of the price and cost increase in the allowances. State Secretary Karl Kristian Bekeng (Ap) believes that hospital finances are solid and points to the fact that the government has authorized extra funds. Photo: Esten Borgos / Borgos Foto AS – We believe the hospital economy is still solid, but tight, he says. Optimism is more difficult to trace in the largest opposition party in the Storting. The head of the health and care committee, Tone Wilhelmsen Trøen (H), criticizes the government’s handling of hospital finances. – Hospitals must know what they have to deal with. They have experienced very unpredictable hospital finances from the government. They didn’t find out until May what they had to deal with, says Trøen. The right-wing politician is also calling for the government to use the available capacity at private and non-profit hospitals. Bekeng rejects this, and calls the award a political game. Spokesperson for health policy in Høgre, Tone Wilhelmsen Trøen, criticizes the government for not giving healthcare companies predictable frameworks. Photo: Hans Kristian Thorbjoernsen / Hans Kristian Thorbjoernsen – Erna Solberg said when the budget was presented that this was a budget that was too extensive for the public sector. Now they say it is too little. Here, the government has worked to facilitate price-cost increases, and has managed to come up with extra funds, also in 2023. But on the floor, along the hospital corridors at Førde central hospital, Lena Thorsnes knows the seriousness. She is a corporate trustee in the Norwegian Nurses’ Association in Helse Førde. The health insurance cap alone must be cut by NOK 100 million next year. – There is only one thing to say. This is a very serious financial situation. That is the case for all healthcare companies in Norway. The economy is tight and has been tight for a long time. We don’t have much more to go on.
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Norwegian hospitals against billion-dollar deficits and cuts – may become a new weekday, professor believes – news Vestland
