The case in summary The board of Helse Nord will decide on Tuesday whether the controversial hospital plan should be sent out for public consultation. The plan has received massive criticism from health personnel, politicians and union representatives, but the Helse Nord management believes that changes are necessary. It is uncertain whether Helse Nord CEO Marit Lind will get a majority in the board to send the plan out for consultation. The plan involves, among other things, removing the emergency surgery at the hospital at Gravdal in Lofoten and at the hospital in Narvik, as well as moving from three emergency hospitals in Helgeland to a common one for the region. The union asks the board members to stop the process, but an editor in Dagens Medisin believes the Helse Nord boss will get a majority. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. The hospital map in Northern Norway is in the process of being redrawn. On Tuesday, there is an extraordinary board meeting in Helse Nord. Seven hours have been set aside for just one matter: Should the controversial hospital plan be sent out for public consultation? The plan has received massive criticism from both health personnel, politicians and union representatives, but the Helse Nord management believes the situation has become so serious that they must make changes. But whether Helse Nord CEO Marit Lind gets the majority on the board is highly uncertain. The board consists of ten people. Seven of them are appointed by the owner, while three are representatives on behalf of the employees. Already before Christmas, the three shop stewards tried to stop the plan being sent out for consultation. The criticism was that they believe the plan is too poorly researched, a lack of risk assessment and that they have had too little time in the work. It is expected that the shop stewards will stand by this view during the board meeting on Tuesday. Helse Nord CEO Marit Lind (right) is dependent on a majority in the board to send the hospital plan out for public consultation. On the left sits chairman Renate Larsen, who has a double vote if necessary. Photo: Ingvild Vik / news According to news’s sources, director Lind can only expect secure support from four board members. This means that she probably does not have the majority to send the plan out for public consultation. But it doesn’t take much to tip the majority the other way during the vote. Should there be a tie during the voting, the double vote of chairman Renate Larsen will decide the matter. Last decision the board makes It has been a tradition in the Helse Nord board to try to find formulations that the whole board can stand behind. If there is not a majority to send the matter out for consultation, the outcome will probably be that Director Lind will get the matter back to his desk. The meeting on Tuesday is also the last for several of the currently appointed board members before the Ministry of Health appoints a new board. This means that the issue on Tuesday is the last several of the sitting members will decide on. None of the board members wish to comment on the matter before the meeting. The proposal to remove the emergency surgery from the hospital at Gravdal in Lofoten set the local population on fire. Photo: Vilde Bratland Erikstad / news Wants to remove emergency surgery at two hospitals The plan, which has upset the minds of many in northern Norway, involves, among other things, removing emergency surgery at the hospital at Gravdal in Lofoten. This will instead be collected at the hospital in Stokmarknes in Vesterålen. They want to do the same at the hospital in Narvik, to bring together the emergency surgery in Harstad. In addition, they will go from three emergency hospitals in Helgeland to a common one for the region – without saying where it will be located. Trade union: – Stop the process But even if no final decision is to be made on Tuesday, there is opposition to sending the plan out for consultation. Line Tollefsen is deputy leader of the Trade Union in Nordland. She asks the board members to think carefully before deciding. Line Tollefsen is deputy leader of the Trade Union in Nordland. They are now asking the board of Helse Nord to think carefully before they possibly decide to send the hospital plan out for consultation. Photo: Bjørn Erik Rygg Lunde / news – It is about the case good enough to be sent out for consultation to the population. – Is that it? – We don’t mean that. We believe that the process has not been good enough, and our shop stewards have told the employer in a discussion meeting. Therefore, Tollefsen and the Trade Union believe that the only right thing to do is to stop the process now. – There are conditions that have come to light in the work that are interesting to look at, but the main features – and especially around emergency preparedness – have not been well enough investigated to send out for consultation. Disagree with the proposals When asked if she understands that Helse Nord must make changes to meet the future, she says she agrees with the purpose but not the means. – Reorganization is an important tool for developing the service, but we do not necessarily agree with the working groups on what needs to be done. – Is it so dangerous to send the case out for hearing? – We can already see that this process has shaken the population in Northern Norway quite strongly. There is nothing that feels as tough as feeling unsafe where you live. She adds: – Sending a consultation draft that is so bad has consequences. You point to a direction, and it is not the direction that we, the Trade Union, want to go. Editor: – Interesting for the rest of the country One person who does not think the process stops at the board table on Tuesday is editor Martin Gray in Dagens Medisin. – I am absolutely certain that there will be long, intense and engaged discussions during the meeting. But I will be very surprised if what comes out is not very similar to the setting. – But now the group trustees have tried to stop this process, and then it is natural to expect that they will oppose this in the board. Doesn’t that matter? – Yes, some of it means something for the discussion, and it can mean something for these individual proposals. But I don’t think that in any way means that this process stops in this meeting. Photo: Tone Herregården He believes the process now taking place in Helse Nord is also interesting for the rest of the country. – It is because there are several other areas that will face many of the challenges that Helse Nord is now facing. This has set a precedent for what happens in the rest of Helse-Norway as well. – Are major changes necessary? – Yes, it is. After all, the health service has always changed as well. It is not a static size in any way. Got the assignment from the Minister of Health It was precisely the board of Helse Nord that initiated the restructuring process. They did so after receiving the assignment from Health Minister Ingvild Kjerkol (Ap). The administration in Helse Nord then set up five working groups to look at the various areas of the operation, and propose a new organisation. The Helse Nord management received these five reports on 14 November, and since then has been working on a comprehensive proposal. Minister of Health and Care Ingvild Kjerkol (Ap) will probably decide the Helse Nord case in the spring. The ministry is the owner of the hospital enterprises in Norway. Here she is visiting Lofoten before Christmas. Photo: Vilde Bratland Erikstad It is this plan that the board of Helse Nord will decide on whether to send it out to a public consultation. The consultation period is for eight weeks, and it is expected that the board will meet at the end of April to make a decision. If the decision involves large enough changes, it will also have to be sent to the Ministry of Health and Care, which is the owner of the health facilities. The board meeting takes place physically in Tromsø and starts at 8 am on Tuesday.
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Going against the majority to stop the controversial hospital plan in the Helse Nord board – news Nordland
