– It is scary to stand alone, without a GP. The mother of three, Lene Nilsen, is fully aware of what is worst when she and her daughters lose their regular doctor next Monday. They live in Eikelandsosen in Bjørnafjorden municipality, just outside Bergen. As of Monday, the municipality with 25,000 inhabitants is missing six permanent doctors. This means that 8,000, every third of those who live there, are without a GP. WITHOUT A GP – Lea (4) has severe epilepsy and a severe chromosomal defect. Still big ho without a GP. Photo: Benjamin Dyrdal / news – Will not be a thread in the treatment Nilsen’s youngest daughter has severe epilepsy and chromosomal defects. The family is therefore often at the doctor’s for help and support. Even though the municipality has promised an intermediate solution with substitutes for those patients who need close follow-up, the mother of three is desperate. – There are new substitutes all the time. There will be no thread in the treatment. When you have children with extensive diagnoses, it is not just a matter of going to new doctors, she says. She thinks the municipality should have had a better solution to what she calls a warning crisis. WARNING CRISIS: Mother of three Lene Nilsen thinks the municipality should have had a better solution to what she calls a warning crisis. Photo: Benjamin Dyrdal / news This is the GP scheme: The GP scheme was introduced on 1 June 2001. It means that everyone can choose a GP, who is our regular contact with the health service. Parents opt for children under 12 years. You can change doctors up to twice a year. If you do not trust the diagnosis or treatment your GP gives you, you are entitled to another doctor’s point of view. Your GP is responsible for ensuring you primary medical services, referring you to a specialist, writing sick notes, social security statements and anything else you need. The GP must be available to “their” patients. It should be possible for you to see the doctor by phone. The GP undertakes to provide a substitute, who will be your regular contact when he / she is absent. Only 0.5 per cent of the population has chosen to be outside the GP scheme. – The municipalities bid over each other Municipal manager for health and welfare Monica Totland Melvold in Bjørnafjorden municipality calls the situation «very critical». – It is a very demanding situation we are in now, she says. From before, the municipality was on the top list when it came to the lack of GPs. But when two of the planned medical substitutes took jobs in other municipalities, everything fell into place. The mayor says that they have done a lot to recruit new doctors, but that it has been very difficult. – The municipalities bid over each other in search of GPs. One competes for the same resources, she says. CRITICAL: Municipal manager Monica Totland Melvold in Bjørnafjorden municipality thinks that something must happen from the state so that it becomes easier to recruit rotation doctors. Photo: Benjamin Dyrdal / news – GP drought news has written several cases about GP shortages in Norway. In total, close to 150,000 Norwegians across the country are without a GP. It is often worst in smaller places, where they struggle to recruit doctors. Bjørnafjorden municipality has known this well, according to Melvold. She thinks something must now happen from the state so that it becomes easier to recruit rotation doctors. – It is completely unsustainable what the municipalities are in now. It’s a GP drought. We do not get substitutes from temp agencies either. Read answers from the Ministry of Health and Care Services further down in the case. – Concerned development Tenant Nils Kristian Klev in the General Practitioners’ Association knows that municipalities make their own agreements to get substitutes for jobs. – This is a worrying development, but it is due to the fact that central governments have not taken action to achieve a proper GP scheme. He believes the government must take the lead with powerful measures that make it attractive to be a regular doctor. – As it is now, municipalities often offer substitutes far more than the permanent employees. It creates dissatisfaction. He emphasizes that what the municipalities can offer the substitutes is often only moderately good, and not sustainable over a longer period of time. Must take a ferry to the emergency room In Bjørnafjorden, they have arranged an intermediate solution for Eikelandsosen medical center, which loses its two emergency doctors on Monday. – The doctors will set up a rotation scheme in the coming months, to help those who need closer follow-up, says the municipal manager in Bjørnafjorden. The shortage of doctors also affects one of the two emergency rooms in the municipality. This may mean that some of the inhabitants have to take a ferry, or drive for an hour to get medical help on the weekends. – It is not good for any of the inhabitants. It should not be like that. Something must happen now, says stepmother Lene Nilsen. When asked if the municipal manager sees any solution to the problem, she answers the following: – Not in the long term. Then the central government must go in and do something, says Totland Melvold. NOT GOOD: It is not good for any of the inhabitants. It should not be like that. Something must happen now, says stepmother Lene Nilsen. Photo: Benjamin Dyrdal / news – Takes it very seriously State Secretary Ole Henrik Krat Bjørkholt (Labor Party) in the Ministry of Health and Care Services says that the GP scheme has gone from bad to worse. – This is a situation we take very seriously, he says. Bjørkholt says that they have initiated several measures to ensure that everyone has a GP to go to. Measures are strengthening of the basic funding and the supplement for doctors in specialization, and reduction of GPs’ work tasks. – What is the government doing to ensure a fairer distribution of GPs? – This crisis has developed for more than ten years. We are looking at how we can build on the positive aspects of the GP scheme we have today, at the same time as we adapt it to a new era.
ttn-69
Every third inhabitant of Bjørnafjorden is without a GP from Monday – news Vestland
