Helse Nord is in a restructuring process ordered by the Minister of Health, due to a financial deficit and a lack of health personnel. Now every stone must be lifted to find out how to turn the tide. Within a few months, five working groups have presented their proposals for solutions. One of the proposals states that the day surgery offer in Alta, Finnmark’s by far the most populous municipality, should be removed. In addition, one of the groups proposes to remove emergency functions in Lofoten and Narvik. A proposal Helse Nord will vouch for, according to a leaked document news has gained access to. – I fear that all the focus around Lofoten and Narvik means that what happens in Alta gets no attention and can only be removed with the stroke of a pen, says surgeon Houman Charani. If day surgery disappears, a professional environment that has taken years to build up will disappear, says surgeon Houman Charani. Photo: Hanne Larsen / news The reason he is now extra worried is that Finnmark Hospital, as Altaposten mentioned first, has decided to bypass Helse Nord’s own process. They will raise the matter in a board meeting as early as 21 December. Before Helse Nord has dealt with the matter and has had the proposal out for consultation. – I understand that the director of Finnmark Hospital has been told to reduce costs at all costs, and to use all shortcuts to balance the budget. But there must be some consequential thinking alongside various creative proposals, says Charani. He has worked at the hospital in Hammerfest for over twenty years, for the last 18 years he has been commuting between Hammerfest hospital and Klinikk Alta. He is one of the key people for building up the surgery offer in Alta. – For those of us who have built this up and run it for many years, this is very short-term thinking with fatal consequences for long-term operations. Remember that it grows slowly in Finnmark and we have to take care of what has taken root, says Charani. The aim of closing the day surgery in Alta and moving the operations to Hammerfest and Kirkenes is to save 14 million. – In this calculation, they have not taken into account the patient leakage that this will entail, says Charani. – Efficient patient care Finnmarkssykehuset will not comment on the matter until after the board meeting. They refer to the board papers, which are now publicly available on the company’s website. Day surgery in Alta is based on operations on knees, shoulders and other joints. An offer that has been built up over the past 18 years, and which, according to Charani, has proven to be very effective, in terms of shorter waiting lists and less burden on patients who avoid long journeys. – The idea of building up a day surgery offer was that the patient should be able to travel back and forth on the same day. A look at the statistics on the day surgery in Hammerfest shows that a large proportion of the patients are admitted overnight, because it is difficult to get there, he says. Klinikk Alta is in danger of losing all orthopedic business. This means surgery on joints such as knees and shoulders. Photo: Hanne Larsen / news He says that the failure rate, the number of canceled operations, in Hammerfest is significantly higher due to the emergency preparedness, which creates unpredictability in operations. – In Alta, you can count the number of overnight admissions on one hand during the 18 years of operational activity. The stroke rate has been less than 1 per cent in Alta in 1,600 operations since 2006. – That is the definition of a sustainable day surgery unit, says the surgeon. – No capacity in Hammerfest Company representative and orthopedist at Finnmarkssykehuset, Thoralf Enge, shares Charani’s concern about emergency treatment at Finnmarkssykehuset. – I think that Finnmark Hospital is trying to take a shortcut, because they don’t want to have a big discussion about this, says Enge. – If this is adopted, then it is a gift package for Aleris. Thoralf Enge is the company representative at Finnmarkssykehuset. He is afraid that the patients will go to Tromsø if the offer in Alta disappears. Photo: PER BANNE Today, patients in Norway can choose where they want to be operated on. If a patient from Kautokeino wants to go to Tromsø, Finnmarkssykehuset will pay the same amount for the operation. – If the offer in Alta is discontinued, waiting times will increase considerably in Hammerfest and Kirkenes. This means that far more patients will probably choose UNN or the private Aleris in Tromsø instead, says Enge. Charani believes the proposal is poorly thought out. – Neither Hammerfest nor Kirkenes has the capacity to take on all operations that are currently carried out in Alta. In addition, we believe it is best that Kirkenes and Hammerfest take care of acute operations and major trauma, says Charani. – Dealing with democracy The concern is shared by Irene Ojala, parliamentary representative for Patient Focus and member of the health committee. – Alta has a large private business sector within construction. Company managers will never let employees wait for surgery with, for example, a broken wrist. They will go straight to private clinics, predicts Ojala. – I think that Finnmark Hospital is getting right about democracy. Something they should be held accountable for. This will not only destroy offers for day surgery in Alta, but in the whole of Finnmark, says Ojala. rene Ojala sits in the Storting for Patient Travel. She is very critical of Finnmark Hospital preempting Helse Nord’s treatment of day surgery in Alta. Photo: Private – Should be built In the absence of a hospital, the establishment of Klinikk Alta has come as a plaster on the wound of the population of this region, which also includes Kautokeino. The Hurdal platform states that the offer at the clinic is to be expanded. – Klinikk Alta should be built up, not like now, that we are deprived of such an important offer for the residents, says Houman Charani. State Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Care, Karl Kristian Bekeng, tells news that in the state budget for 2024 they have proposed an allocation of NOK 25 million for further development of the specialist health services at Klinikk Alta. – Special priority is given to measures to prevent unnecessary travel for the elderly and chronically ill, says Bekeng. State Secretary Karl Kristian Bekeng (Ap). Photo: Esten Borgos / Borgos Foto AS Irene Ojala believes that it helps little to get funds to build up at one end, when you remove offers at the other end. – It doesn’t seem like we’re going to get anything done here in Alta, she says.
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Finnmark Hospital proposes to remove day surgery from Alta before Helse Nord has dealt with the case – news Troms and Finnmark
