Danish Waslah Mansha was recently in Sykkylven, where she worked as a substitute doctor for three weeks. With an hourly wage of NOK 1,300 and a weekly wage of over NOK 50,000, it was a well-paid stay. – I don’t feel like I’ve been at work. It feels more like I’ve been on holiday, she says to news. – It was very reassuring for me to come to a place with such beautiful surroundings. Norway is so rich in nature. At the same time, I had the evenings and weekends to find a lot of fun, meet new people and explore another culture, she adds. Mansha, who graduated as a doctor in 2018, worked 40 hours a week plus “a little overtime”. – The need for GPs is great in Norway, and we get a lot of responsibility. The salary is also significantly better than in Denmark. I’m looking forward to coming back, she says. Now she works at home in Denmark while she waits for her next temporary stay in Norway. A new temporary agency places Danish doctors in Alta, Senja, Sykkylven (pictured), Tønsberg, Hå and Årdal. The doctors are well aware of that. Photo: Wikimedia commons Agreements with a number of municipalities Nordlys Vikar is among the companies that transfer Danish doctors to Norway. In an advertisement they tempt with salaries of between 185,000 and 208,000 Norwegian kroner – per month. At the top comes free accommodation. For specialists, the pay is even higher (see how the Storting reacts in the box below). – This is spinnvilt Marian Hussein, SV – This is spinnvilt, and despairing that we have ended up in this situation. The municipalities are trapped in a state of incapacity where they rely on temporary agencies instead of investing in long-term solutions. Now the government has said that there will be powerful measures already in the budget, we expect that, and this case clearly shows how important it is. Throwing money at temp agencies is to worsen the health personnel crisis we are in the middle of, it doesn’t solve anything. Both the government and KS must get on the scene, and ensure struggling municipalities a decent alternative when the GPs fail. Olaug Bollestad, KrF – This case testifies to municipalities in a desperate situation, and is a picture of the challenges we face with a shortage of GPs in almost the entire country. What we see is that the municipalities are outbidding each other for the GPs they have to get hold of, or bringing in substitutes from abroad to give the elderly the security they are entitled to in their everyday life. If people are to feel secure that they have a GP, it requires the government to deliver a good budget for GPs. Furthermore, we need to employ more of all those who are queuing to become LIS1 doctors, it is completely pointless for fully qualified doctors to become unemployed. I expect the government to come up with strong measures to contribute to solutions to the GP crisis in the budget in a month’s time. We know what is needed to start securing the GP scheme, and there is no time to wait for yet another selection. Bård Hoksrud, Frp – This is a symptom of a GP system that does not work. When newly graduated Danish substitute doctors can earn approximately double what Norwegian permanent doctors do, with free accommodation on top of that, it shows what a desperate situation Norwegian municipalities are in. We need more measures in place, and quickly. This is no longer a GP crisis, but a patient crisis. That is why it is incredibly good when private actors get involved and help solve this. For the losers when we lack permanent doctors, it is all those without permanent doctors. The medical association revealed only a short time ago that as many as 340,000 Norwegians may be without a GP at New Year’s. We must improve the working conditions of GPs by increasing the basic allowance, removing risks and ensuring increased recruitment. Tone Wilhelmsen Trøen, Høgre – This is a picture of the situation in the GP scheme. The GP crisis is a patient crisis. Now more than 200,000 patients are without a GP. Recruitment and stabilization are the core challenges. The recruitment challenges cannot be solved just by increasing funds for the GP scheme. The workload must be reduced and the financial risk associated with GP practice must be reduced. In addition, a safe and exciting professional environment must be created and good follow-up and facilitation in the course of specialization must be ensured. Right, we believe that in the short term we must ensure that there are more permanent doctors, and that they are given fewer work assignments. Høgre presented a financially binding action plan for the GP scheme of NOK 1.6 billion, together with KS and the medical association. We believe that the government must get the measures it has decided on in the action plan started. You have to look at how you can relieve the GPs, see if more people can share the tasks and how the collaboration with the hospitals works. Aydar Seher, Raudt – It is true that many municipalities struggle with recruitment, but 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 to wash himself. It’s short-term and it’s expensive. In addition, it is the recipe for poor health preparedness. Instead of putting money into building up the professionals we need, money is being blown for the short term. This is an image of a vicious spiral that must be solved by tackling the problem itself: the GP crisis. – We have been very open. In the temp agency industry, it has almost been forbidden to talk openly about pay, so here we have created a paradigm shift, says Helen Latif, who started the temp agency earlier this year. The company has agreements with a number of municipalities in Norway: Alta, Senja, Sykkylven, Tønsberg, Hå and Årdal. In addition, several other municipalities have also expressed their interest. The Norwegian Medical Association answers Anne-Karin Rime, president of the Norwegian Medical Association – Many municipalities find themselves forced to use substitutes to ensure their residents’ access to doctors. This is a direct consequence of the crisis in the GP scheme. The GP scheme is based on us as patients seeing the same doctor – over time. But the use of substitutes means that the patients meet many different doctors, which gives far less continuity and stability. Then we lose the floor in the GP scheme itself. The temporary employment is also very expensive for the municipalities. Resource use is not sustainable. – We have been very open about pay, says Helen Latif, who started the temp agency earlier this year. Photo: Private – We are forced to solve the shortage of doctors at sky-high prices – We feel the challenge on our bodies every day. We cannot be recruited, and have entered a spiral where we are forced to solve the doctor shortage at sky-high prices and immoral demands through a rental agency, says Trygve Skjerdal (Sp), who is the mayor of Aurland. KS director Helge Eide calls the lucrative agreements a sign of illness. – Use of expensive temp agencies and payment of wages that are far above what a newly qualified doctor can expect to receive with ordinary employment is very unfortunate. He adds: – Although substitutes are necessary and important when it is not easy to recruit GPs, over time it becomes very costly. It goes beyond other important tasks the municipalities have, he says. Årdal is among the municipalities that are willing to dig deep to attract Danish doctors. Photo: Erik Johansen / NTB scanpix Mayor of Sunnfjord municipality, Jenny Følling (Sp), says to news that the “substitute physician relay” and the galloping salaries are a picture of “a serious recruitment problem” and “a system in disrepair”. – Action must now be taken, she says, with reference to the national budget to be presented in October. The Ministry of Health and Care has previously announced “concrete measures” to address the doctor crisis in the state budget for 2023. – We do not wish to comment on a specific advertisement. Having said that, we know that it is difficult to recruit and retain sufficient professionals in the health service. Precisely for this reason, we must look at measures that can change this image, says Ole Henrik Krat Bjørkholt, who is state secretary (Ap) in the ministry. – Overwhelming demand As of today, Helen Latif’s agency has sent 10 doctors to Norway. In the next few months, 20 new doctors are on their way to Norwegian municipalities. – The demand has been overwhelming. In total, we have been in contact with approximately 100 Danish doctors in two months, says Latif to news. She herself has worked as a doctor’s assistant for many years, and wants to use her experience to help more Danish doctors to open their eyes to working in Norway. – The salary is the strongest motivating factor, but a safe temporary stay combined with scenic surroundings also means a lot to the Danish doctors.
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– I feel like I’ve been on holiday – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
