Maternity rooms and wards may be closed in several places in Northern Norway. This is stated in a secret document that news has gained access to. The document was created in connection with Helse Nord’s work on reorganizing the hospitals in the north. It shows various options for solving the hospital structure in the region. Here the food offers can be closed: The food offer at these places can be closed: Kirkenes Alta Nordreisa Senja Narvik Lofoten Brønnøysund The same applies to one more place in Helgeland, where the place name does not appear. At the district medical center at Sonjatun in Nordreisa municipality in Nord-Troms, the closure of the delivery room is proposed in all alternatives. It has strong reactions from several quarters. – Very stressful to think about First-time mothers Ingeborg Holm is one of those who have made use of the offer at Sonjatun. She has two weeks left until her due date, and is very satisfied with the follow-up she has received so far. – I think it is incredibly awkward if the offer is discontinued, she says. If they had not had an offer in Nord-Troms, she would have had to drive for over three hours to Tromsø. – It is very stressful to think about. It is much better to be able to stay at home as long as you can and relax and not stress. It gives an extremely great sense of security to have the birthing room here, she says. Ingeborg Holm (tv) and midwife, Birte Simone Wilke, are both aware that closeness and good relationships are important. They fear it may disappear if the maternity ward is closed down. Photo: Øystein Arild M Antonsen / news The employees are afraid that pregnant women in the rural areas will receive a significantly worse offer than those living in the cities. – We must provide those who live here with equal health services. When there is a political desire for young families to live and move to the rural areas, then it is not out of the question to cut down on maternity services, says Birte Simone Wilke. The midwife is concerned that pregnant women in Nord-Troms may have to deal with foreign midwives. – We have better time and better information about their history. When you have built up a relationship of trust, they open up to us more easily and tell us the important things, says Wilke. Mayor of Nordreisa municipality, Hilde Anita Nyvoll (Ap), has announced a torchlight procession if Nord-Troms loses its maternity services. Trade union goes at the throat The head of the Midwives’ Association, Hanne Schjelderup, reacts strongly to proposed cuts in maternity services in Helse Nord. – This will affect those giving birth who have had the longest birth path before. We know that weather and geography are a challenge. We believe this is unsustainable, she says. Schjelderup has little understanding of the explanation from Helse Nord that it is being done to ensure equal and good health care in the future, and not finances. Hanne Schjelderup, leader of the Midwives Association NSF. Photo: Odd Skjerdal – This is done for financial reasons, and nothing else. It is clear that, as the world’s richest country, we have money for a safe, good and accessible food supply. There will not be an equal supply of births if we are to close down more birthing places. She says she does not feel sure that arguments such as that there are too few professionals are true. – Half of all newly qualified midwives do not get a job when they have completed their education. We also have artificially low basic staffing on maternity wards. We are not good enough to retain and recruit midwives in the public sector, says Schjelderup. Ojala: – Provoked Irene Ojala in Patient Focus reacts strongly to the alternatives that have been put forward. – They may well propose it, but they cannot implement it. I will keep a very close eye on this. The proposals will now be processed in the health institutions, before they are presented in April next year, says the parliamentary representative from Patient Focus. Storting representative for Patient Focus, Irene Ojala has long fought to strengthen health care in Finnmark. She is provoked that the companies even mention cuts in their documents. Photo: Hanne Wilhelms / news Although she does not believe that cuts can be made, she does not like that it is even brought up within the company. – I feel provoked that they are creating this uncertainty. Both for workers, Kirkenes hospital, for the patients and people in Kautokeino, Alta and Loppa. In fact, I think the health authority should be too good for that, says Ojala. – Now the Finnmarkings must rest when it comes to health. We must be reassured – and that is actually the responsibility of the Minister of Health. I don’t think all the options will be implemented. Parliamentary representative from Troms and health policy spokesperson for the Labor Party, Cecilie Myrseth, says she has a great understanding of the concerns and reactions that are now coming. But she believes it is important to take a closer look at how the healthcare organizations should be organised. – We see that in Northern Norway we lack more health personnel than in the rest of the country, we have far too large a share of hire and positions that are unfilled. At the same time, we have large distances, a lot of weather and wind and rural areas, she says. Cecilie Myrseth (Ap) points out that nothing has been proposed yet, but only different alternatives to be discussed. Photo: Eirik Hind Sveen / news Myrseth does not believe that all the options that are now being put on the table will be implemented. – We will have local hospital emergency services around the whole of northern Norway, also on the other side of this process, she says. – Now we have to get the consequences of the various proposals on the table, and then we have to discuss them. We must include both municipalities and the professionals in the region on the team to find good solutions. Her biggest concern is that if nothing is done, the health service in Northern Norway will wither away. – Reprehensible! Parliamentary representative from the FRP, Bengt Rune Strifeldt, is not lenient towards the healthcare companies. – This is starting to get ridiculous! says Strifeldt. Storting representative from Frp, Bengt Rune Strifeldt believes that you cannot cut emergency services, so patients have to travel 80 miles to get help. Photo: Jonas Løken Estenstad / news Strifeldt believes that the proposals show that people within the companies do not understand how long the distances are between the various hospitals. – It will be 80 miles from Kirkenes to the emergency surgery and ventilator space. Imagine traveling 50-80 miles to be able to have a caesarean section. The distances are becoming so long that we simply cannot accept this, says Strifeldt. – Must not be read as a conclusion On Thursday, Helse Nord had a board meeting in Bodø. The managing director, Marit Lind, thinks it’s a shame that there is no peace around their internal work with the hospital structure. – This must in no way be read as a conclusion. It is a document early in a discussion process, she says. Lind will not answer specifically whether any emergency hospitals will be closed down. – But what is quite obvious is that we will have to operate differently than today. The CEO of Helse Nord, Marit Lind, is clear that they will have to operate differently in the coming years. Photo: Bente H.Johansen – Good time for pregnant women In the delivery room at Storslett, several weeks can pass between each time a new child is born. So far this year, there have been 15 births. – Then we have plenty of time for the pregnant women and those who have given birth. We also get time for professional updates, and not least we are on standby, says midwife Hanne Fjellstad. Midwife Hanne Fjellstad is happy that they have plenty of time to follow up the pregnant women in Nord-Troms. Photo: Øystein Arild M Antonsen / news It is something heavily pregnant Ingeborg Holm has appreciated during her pregnancy. – It is such a nice calm to have the birthing room here. You also know that they are only a phone call away, and can come to your home, she says. In two weeks, she is due with the little boy in her belly. She is looking forward to giving birth in quiet surroundings in Nordreisa.
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Can close several maternity wards – news Troms and Finnmark
