– We are seriously concerned about the capacity and readiness to receive seriously ill patients this summer, says Jørgen Isaksen. He is chief physician in neurosurgery at the University Hospital of Northern Norway. The neurosurgery department in Tromsø treats the population in the north for, among other things, cerebral haemorrhages, brain tumors and injuries to the neck and back. They have four fixed surveillance beds. But this summer, only staff have been set aside to run two of them. Nine chief physicians at the department have now sent a notice to the State Administrator in Troms and Finnmark, which is the supervisory authority. «The planned capacity for the summer holidays will quickly lead to indefensibility in Northern Norway’s only neurosurgical services. We ask for a very fast handling, “it says in the letter that news has been given access to. – We are dependent on high competence and intensive capacity both before and after surgery. This is critical, says Isaksen. One of the chief physicians who has signed is former CEO of UNN, Tor Ingebrigtsen. These superiors have signed the letter Tor Ingebrigtsen, Jens Munch-Ellingsen, Jørgen Isaksen, Tore Solberg, Christina Høstmælingen, Lars Kjelsberg Pedersen, Andreas Sørlie, Lasse Andreassen and Kay Müller. Chief physician in neurosurgery, Jørgen Isaksen, speaks on behalf of the department. Photo: Pål Hansen / news Fearing the consequences The chief doctors write that the summer staffing over many years has been challenging, but last summer it was so bad that they communicated their concerns in a normal line of leadership. Their main concern was the reduced capacity in the immediate aid chain, and that they therefore considered the operation unsustainable. “In addition, the burden was very high on us who had to make vital and time-critical decisions, characterized by few resources and framework conditions. Knowing that the result for the patients could be very poor “, they describe in the letter. But the internal alert has not been listened to, according to them. For now, the department is facing another summer, and according to the superiors, UNN not only repeats last year’s unsustainable operations, but they further reduce capacity. – We send this notification because we have tried to take it up internally. Then the next step is to report to the county doctor, says Isaksen. – There is a danger to health with loss of prognosis for patients. And in my opinion, there is also a real danger that it could go beyond life. It’s hard to say, but it’s hard to rule it out. Already too many patients When the letter was sent a week ago, the capacity of the ward had already been blown up. Before a single one of the summer’s acute cases was received, there were four neurosurgical patients in the intensive care unit, and four patients in the neurosurgical monitoring room. Four of them are expected to be hospitalized for two weeks. In addition, they have four newly discovered brain tumors that will be operated on in the next two weeks, and these too will need a place to sleep. When capacity is reduced, patients with complicated medical needs must be moved to the already pressured intensive care unit. These are patients who really need neurosurgical follow-up. The nurses Amalie Krüger and Kristine Evanger. Photo: Pål Hansen / news Amalie Krüger and Kristine Evanger are nurses in the neurology department, and describe the situation as unbearable. – It is tough, people are already under pressure and take a lot of overtime. Most people have an average of one week of overtime each month, says Krüger. The hospital is already struggling with staffing. Now they are especially afraid to work during the holidays. – We have full occupancy and heavy patients all the time. But now we are going down on half of the employees that we are usually there. We get patients who need immediate help every day. Cerebral haemorrhages, traffic accidents. So we are facing some hard weeks, Evanger says. Einar Bugge, Deputy CEO at UNN. Photo: Pål Hansen / news Three non-conformance reports this weekend Deputy CEO of UNN, Einar Bugge, says they will follow up on the warning, and that they take the concerns seriously. – We understand the situation. It is a demanding situation with our total intensive capacity, and perhaps especially at this department this summer. He still believes the operation is sound now. Then they will follow through the summer, and possibly coordinate internally to utilize the total capacity of the hospital. Chief physician Jørgen Isaksen does not agree that it is justifiable. They have already experienced staffing challenges. – I think this is not justifiable. We wrote three non-conformance reports just this weekend, says Isaksen. County doctor Anne Grethe Olsen at the State Administrator in Troms and Finnmark shares the concern of the chief physicians. She has contacted the UNN management. – Based on what we have been informed about, UNN has carried out a risk analysis, and implemented mitigating measures. Then the management there must follow the case throughout the summer, she says.
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Believes staffing in neurosurgery is unjustifiable – news Troms and Finnmark
