Louisa (35) is left alone with two young children after her partner died of heart failure in March. He was in his early 50s and had been hanging heavily for long periods since last autumn. Several times he went to his GP in Rogaland, but he was sent home because the doctor thought the ailments were due to stress. – My roommate should never have met this doctor. The Norwegian Health Authority should not have let him stay on for so long. He should have been deprived of the opportunity to be a GP many years ago, she says. It would appear that she was not the only one who was unhappy. Nevertheless, few, if any, of the far more than a thousand patients on the GP’s list are aware of his long history of investigations and warnings from the Norwegian Health Authority. We will return to this. The widow lost her partner without warning. Now she wants to warn others. Photo: Benjamin Dyrdal / news The doctor, who was trained in Norway, has had authorization since the mid-1990s. Other doctors at the center he is affiliated with have in recent months sent notices to the county doctor in Rogaland against their own colleague. They are concerned about whether he can look after his patients in a responsible manner. The colleagues have kept a log in a separate book of what they claim are various deviations in the doctor’s practice. This emerges from written documentation that news has been given access to. The roommate with to document Three new cases, including the death of Louisa’s roommate, means that the Norwegian Health Authority is now investigating the GP’s role. This is not the first time the doctor has been investigated. Louisa was present during several of the consultations with her partner’s GP to document, as she had a clear perception that the doctor was not measuring up. Although she is still in mourning over the sudden and unexpected loss of her life partner, she still wants to tell the story in the hope that there can be a discussion about the thresholds for de-licensing doctors. Photo: Benjamin Dyrdal / news She had then caught all the negative comments about the GP that other patients had written on the website legelisten.no. The core of the feedback is that the doctor has very little time and that he does not take the patients seriously. – Came too late to the specialist Louisa says that her partner had tried in vain to change GPs. She claims that the doctor dismissed his health problems. – Only in February, after six months, were we able to push through a referral to a heart specialist. But my partner never managed to go there in May before he died, she says. At Legelisten.no, patients can also check whether a GP has received reactions from the Norwegian Health Authority. The doctor in this case is listed without negative comments. His patients should therefore be able to feel safe. Or? The documents reveal the doctor’s history When we start to order documents and dig deeper into the matter, it turns out that the GP has a history that very few, probably none, of the patients on his list know about. Neither did Louisa or the roommate. The story reveals that the doctor has been caught for a large number of breaches of the Health Personnel Act over the past ten years. The oldest case is 20 years old. The offenses concern treatments that the Norwegian Health Authority or the county doctor in Rogaland consider to be professionally unsound. Several times the GP has not followed up patients with serious illnesses. Twice this has resulted in fatal cancers not being detected as early as they could have been, according to the control bodies. A year ago, the doctor failed to admit a seriously ill patient to hospital. It turned out that the patient had terminal cancer. In another case, an important recommendation from a specialist was left lying around for seven months without the doctor passing it on. The patient had severe cancer. A third patient did not learn that he had Hepatitis C until five months after the test results were ready. Here is an overview of the cases: Cases in which the GP is, or has been, involved: Offense in 2005: Patient was diagnosed with Hepatitis C, but the doctor did not notify the patient. After five months, the patient got worse, contacted the doctor, and only then found out about the test results. The Norwegian Health Authority issued a warning to the doctor for a serious breach of the Health Personnel Act’s requirements for professional integrity. The inspectorate placed particular emphasis on the risk of infection to which others were exposed in the months when the patient had not been notified. Offense in 2015: The county doctor considered that the GP should have referred a patient with Hepatitis C to the specialist health service for investigation and assessment. It was also pointed out that large parts of the patient record lacked information about necessary clinical examinations, as well as professional assessments. This constituted a breach of the Health Personnel Act’s requirements for professional integrity and requirements for record keeping. Offenses in 2016: New supervisory case which this time concerned delayed diagnosis of cancer in the sinuses/nose/eye sockets. The Norwegian Health Authority gave the doctor a warning for breaching the Health Personnel Act’s requirements for professional integrity. The inspectorate emphasized that the GP left an important recommendation from a specialist lying around for seven months without implementing it further. This meant that the patient arrived significantly late for the CT examination, and thus the cancer was discovered much later than it could have been. Offenses in 2021: The county doctor gave the GP a warning for breaching the Health Personnel Act’s requirements for professional integrity and requirements for record keeping. The reason was inadequate and unplanned follow-up of three patients with chronic diseases. The consequences were an increased risk of disease progression, or the development of serious complications. The case started with a report of concern from the GP’s former health secretary. Offense in 2023: The GP abruptly disposed of (quickly took away) a medicinal product in violation of the Joint Catalogue’s recommendation on gradual tapering off. The state administrator assumed that the abrupt discontinuation and lack of clinical assessments of the consequences of changing the treatment was professionally unjustified, and contrary to the Health Personnel Act’s requirements for professional propriety. Offense in 2023: A patient had advanced liver cancer, but the GP denied that it could be cancer. The county doctor believed, based on a review of the patient’s medical records, that the GP should have the patient admitted to hospital, or arrange for further examinations in other ways. The patient quickly got worse, and died relatively quickly since the treatment was started too late. The county doctor believes this constitutes a breach of the Health Personnel Act’s requirements for professional responsibility, but the matter must be finally decided by the Norwegian Health Authority. Offense in 2023: A patient was refused healthcare by the GP, and asked to change doctors. According to the county doctor, the GP also acted disrespectfully in his written communication with the patient. The county doctor believes this constitutes a breach of the Health Personnel Act’s requirements for professional responsibility, as well as the requirement for caring assistance. The matter must be finally decided by the Norwegian Health Authority. Supervision case in 2024: This concerns the death of Louise’s partner, which is mentioned in this article. The county medical examiner has instituted supervision proceedings on the basis of a complaint from the widow. Report of concern in 2024: The report came from several doctors at the doctor’s office who are concerned about their colleague’s care for their own patients by coming to work late and not following up on operational tasks. The colleagues have their own book in which they have noted various deviations in the GP’s practice. Report of concern in 2024: New report of concern from doctors in the same office community about the colleague’s use of Vipps as payment, incorrect use of rates, and his alleged snooping in the patient records of one of the doctor colleagues. Now, for the first time, the Norwegian Health Authority has sent a letter to the GP stating that he is at risk of losing his authorization as a doctor. The surviving widow believes this is far too late. She believes it is too easy for doctors to retain their authorization, even if they have several serious cases on their hands. The doctor received the letter from the Norwegian Health Authority at the end of June. The decision will be made in autumn. Photo: Erlend Frafjord / news – But even though I am furious with the GP, and the lack of treatment my roommate received, it is primarily the failure of the system that I want to end here, adds Louisa. “Ongoing risk for patient safety” In an assessment that the county doctor in Rogaland sent to the Norwegian Health Authority in March this year, it is stated: “It must be emphasized that the GP consistently shows a lack of understanding for acting differently, which we consider constitutes an ongoing risk for patient safety”. When the county doctor sent this assessment to the Norwegian Health Authority, the death of Louisa’s partner was not known to the supervisory authorities. Now this has also become part of the ever-growing supervision case against the GP. Case manager Lisbeth Homlong in the Norwegian Health Authority tells news that there must be a meeting between the GP and the Norwegian Health Authority before a final decision is made. This will happen early in the autumn. The Norwegian Health Authority will not comment on Louisa’s criticism as long as the case is under consideration by them. The doctor not suspended news has been in contact with the GP’s secretary, explained what the case is about, and asked the doctor to call back. He has never made contact. After a reminder, the secretary has confirmed that the doctor has received our message, but she says he doesn’t want to talk to us. Both county doctor Andres Neset in Rogaland and the municipal superintendent in the relevant municipality say they are aware of the case, but neither wants to comment as long as the case has been submitted to the Norwegian Health Authority for a final decision. The GP has not been suspended from his post, and he is working as usual at the medical center pending the further processing of the case against him. Legislative change to strengthen patient safety – I feel strongly for Louisa who has lost her partner, says State Secretary Ellen Moen Rønning-Arnesen (Ap). She will not comment on ongoing supervisory matters, but says on a general basis that the government will do everything to ensure that patients are safe. State Secretary Ellen Moen Rønning-Arnesen (Ap). Photo: Jon Petrusson / news – Healthcare personnel who pose a serious risk to patient safety should be able to be banned from activities that involve patient contact for the foreseeable future. That is why we put forward a number of legislative amendments this spring, which the Storting has agreed to, says Moen Rønning-Arnesen. The changes to the law apply from 1 January 2025. Among other things, they give the Norwegian Health Authority clear authority to revoke authorization, license or specialist approval forever in cases where healthcare personnel pose a serious risk to patient safety. Furthermore, the Norwegian Health Authority is allowed to impose a ban on providing healthcare to healthcare personnel who have lost their authorisation, but who nevertheless continue to practice the profession. – The ban must be registered in the healthcare personnel register, so that it is available to everyone, and the employer must be notified of the situation. Everyone can contact the state administrator or the Norwegian Health Authority and ask for information about whether health personnel have supervisory cases against them, and possibly request access to decisions, says the state secretary. Published 07.09.2024, at 20.56
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Colleagues sounded the alarm about a GP after the father of a small child died unexpectedly – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
