news has gained access to a report of concern that six doctors at the thoracic section at Oslo University Hospital sent to management on Wednesday last week. In the letter, they express great concern about the impending reorganization before the summer, where it is planned that cardiac surgery will mainly take place at Rikshospitalet. Today, 200 patients are on the waiting list to have heart surgery performed at the section responsible for diseases that require surgical treatment in the heart, lungs and central blood vessels. – By bringing together all heart surgery at Rikshospitalet with only four extra operating sessions per week, you will run the risk of having a capacity problem with regard to emergency and urgent operations. The consequence of this will be loss of prognosis and, in the worst case, loss of life in these patients, the doctors write in the report of concern. – Planned summer operations entail a high risk of patients having to wait a long time for transfer and surgery, warns doctors at OUS who are already struggling with long treatment queues at the thoracic section. Photo: Roger Myren / news On Thursday last week, it became known that 14 out of 24 nurses at the department have resigned from their positions. The doctors write in the report of concern that this should be a warning to the head of department. Shortage of key personnel will have dramatic consequences for all planned heart surgery within a short time. Receives support from colleagues Heart and lung doctors at other departments are also critical of the reorganisation. 11 senior doctors and department heads sent a separate report of concern on Friday, which news has gained access to. There they write: – The concern is about the planned weakened thoracic surgery offer at Ullevål in the summer of 2023 and the return to normal operation in the autumn. The proposal lacks risk assessments for patient treatment in collaborating departments and poses a danger to life and health, the doctors write in this letter of concern. The doctors who have sent the letter do not wish to comment on the content for the time being, but news learns that there is great frustration and fury over the reorganization in both camps. Only the last report of concern has been answered, and that in an unsatisfactory manner, according to the undersigned. Up in the board next week The board of OUS will adopt the much-discussed cuts at the hospital on Thursday. In a message on the hospital’s internal computer network, which news has seen, managing director Bjørn Atle Bjørnbeth writes that the requirements for restructuring are the same, despite the fact that the government has announced more money for the hospitals. This leads to a cut of 462 man-years in 2023. This corresponds to a cut of 2.5 per cent. Managing director at OUS, Bjørn Atle Bjørnbeth, admits that the reorganizations in these tight economic times are demanding. Photo: Olav Juven – We are facing tough changes every day, and we are working hard to find ways to reduce our costs, writes Bjørnbeth. In addition to the government’s promise of NOK 2.5 billion extra for the hospitals, there will also be compensation for the high prices. But in this year’s budget, the head of OUS writes that the extra funds will go to “improve the financial result”. – This does not serve the purpose of this extra grant, says deputy enterprise union representative Erik Høiskar, and continues: The union representative for the senior doctors at Ullevål Hospital, Erik Høiskar, takes a serious view that the extra grants from the state should not go into operation. Photo: Jenny Dahl Bakken – It is very frustrating when there is an additional grant where it is planned to improve operations and investments, that the money is not used. Want to consolidate operations in one place The management at OUS wants to coordinate operations at Ullevål with Rikshospitalet, so that there will be one center for cardiac surgery at OUS. The employees have warned against that. It was TV 2 that mentioned the mass redundancies first. Photo: Rolf Petter Olaisen / news One of the nurses who wants to quit is Stine Molvær Nesseth. She is a newly qualified intensive care nurse, but has a fixed term and has therefore not handed in her resignation yet. The section she works on is responsible for diseases that require surgical treatment in the heart, lungs and central blood vessels. It is located at Ullevål Hospital. – We feel that the management does not listen to the concerns we bring up. That is perhaps the worst. When we say that we are afraid of patient safety, we feel that we are not taken seriously. The whole of Ullevål will be affected The Norwegian Nurses’ Association has sent out an e-mail to its members in which they write that “there is now a storm around the heart PO in Ullevål”. The Nurses’ Association believes that as the cardiac post-operative department will not be operated at Ullevål this summer, but from Rikshospitalet, it will affect the preparedness of the whole of Ullevål as important competence and preparedness is gone. The management at OUS wants to coordinate operations at Ullevål with Rikshospitalet, so that there will be one center for cardiac surgery at OUS. Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB The Norwegian Nurses’ Association has asked the management at OUS to see what measures are to be taken to ensure patient safety and what plans are in place for the continued operation of the entire thoracic department at Ullevål until the merger.
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Doctors at Ullevål warn against cuts in heart surgery – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
