news has previously told about desperate Norwegian municipalities that tempt newly graduated Danish doctors with salaries of NOK 200,000 – a month. Now an internal memo shows that Norwegian municipalities must prepare to pay double this next summer. In the note, the new rates are stated at NOK 95,800 – per week. “Expenses for temporary workers have exploded,” the note states. And nowhere have they exploded more than in Skjervøy municipality in Troms. NOK 300,000 – a week – is the sum they are willing to spend on a substitute doctor, “at the very end of the year”. Part of the sum goes to the temp agency, but the lion’s share goes directly to the doctor. Framtid i Nord mentioned the case first. – This is a major cut into the municipal economy, and not a solution that is sustainable. It is a solution to the crisis, says Åshild Hansen, who is head of health and care in the municipality. She adds that colleagues in the municipality have expressed that the offer is “unsavory” and that she “can partially agree with that”. In Årdal municipality, mayor Hilmar Høl (Ap) calls the galloping medical expenses “the biggest problem we have”. A short time ago, the municipality was in contact with a potential substitute doctor who demanded NOK 120,000 a week, plus travel costs and a fully furnished home. Årdal municipality lacks three out of six GP positions, and was therefore in the process of accepting the offer until both parties “found a better alternative”. Aurland is among the municipalities with a shortage of doctors who have to pay NOK 95,800 a week for a substitute doctor. Photo: Aurland municipality – A serious recruitment problem In 2015, the price for a temporary doctor was 32,950 per week for non-specialists, and 39,900 per wick for specialists. – It is especially in the last three years that prices have gone up a lot, says Guri Olsen, who is head of health in Aurland municipality, where two out of three GP lists are without a doctor. Mayor of Sunnfjord municipality, Jenny Følling (Sp), calls the salaries a picture of “a serious recruitment problem”. Her prescription is to decentralize the last half of medical studies. – We know how important a city of study is for further employment. Decentralized education at local hospitals and in municipalities increases the chance that doctors will be employed in the districts even after completing their education, she says. The relationship between city of study and city of work is explored in the project “Do we train healthcare personnel that the city and country need”, which the National Center for District Medicine has taken the initiative for. An internal note sounds the alarm that medical expenses for Norwegian municipalities “have exploded”. Photo: Håvard Nyhus – Like peeing in your pants to keep warm In the Storting, the situation in Commune-Norway arouses sharp reactions: Marian Hussein (SV): – This is crazy. The municipalities are trapped in a state of incapacity where they rely on temporary agencies instead of investing in long-term solutions. Aydar Seher (Raudt): – Solving the problem of resorting to commercial temp agencies to recruit doctors without specialization is like peeing in your pants to keep warm, and then sending him to the reindeer instead of washing himself. Olaug Bollestad (KrF): – This case testifies to municipalities in a desperate situation. Bård Hoksrud (Frp): – When newly graduated, Danish substitute doctors can earn double what Norwegian GPs do, it shows what a desperate situation Norwegian municipalities are in. Tone Wilhelmsen Trøen (Høgre): – This is a picture of the situation in the GP system . The GP crisis is a patient crisis. President of the Medical Association, Anne-Karin Rime, tells news that the “substitute relay” is a symptom of the GP crisis. – This means that the patients have to meet many different doctors, which gives far less continuity and stability. Then we lose the gold in the GP scheme itself. The temporary employment is also very expensive for the municipalities. KS answers Helge Eide, director of society, welfare and democracy at KS – Use of an expensive temp agency and payment of a salary that is far above what a newly qualified doctor can expect to receive with ordinary employment is very unfortunate. Although substitutes are necessary and important when it is not possible to recruit permanent doctors, over time it becomes very costly. It goes beyond other important tasks the municipalities have. President of the Medical Association, Anne-Karin Rime, says that the “substitute relay” is a symptom of the GP crisis. Photo: Legeforeningen/Thomas B. Eckhoff The government announces “concrete measures” in the state budget The Directorate of Health states that 175,000 Norwegians lack a GP, while the Association of General Practitioners claims the real number is 235,000. The government has announced “concrete measures” for the GP scheme in the state budget for next year, which will be presented in October. Furthermore, they have set up a committee of experts who will go through the GP service. The mandate is to give concrete proposals for measures to strengthen the GP scheme “so that everyone has a GP to go to and make it sustainable over time”. The expert committee must deliver the first recommendations by 1 December 2022. news spoke to State Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Care, Ole Henrik Krat Bjørkholt (Ap), earlier in September: – To solve the GP crisis, we have to think anew, and we have to take new steps . We cannot continue on the same track and hope that the situation will resolve itself over time.
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Here, the replacement doctor can cost NOK 300,000 a week – news Vestland
