Around 175,000 Norwegians are without a GP. Some think there are far more. Doctors do not dare to retire, because they fear for their patients. Chronically ill people lose their doctor in a lottery when there are too many on the list. Municipalities are engaged in a bidding war with each other to get substitute workers, something that can cost them hundreds of millions. But it is not sustainable in the long term, and they are asking for help from the state. Karmøy will now give out a bonus of NOK 400,000 to those who choose to become a GP in the municipality. But not everyone agrees that such immediate measures are the way to go. No vacancies The health and care committee in Karmøy decided on Wednesday evening to advocate a scholarship scheme for new doctors who get a job in the municipality. Karmøy has a total of eight vacant doctor positions, among the six GP homes. If you were looking for a place with one of the GPs who are there, there is nothing available and hundreds on a waiting list. Nora Olsen-Sund says it is very challenging to recruit GPs, but hopes the grant can be of help. Photo: Marthe Synnøve Johannessen / news The new scholarship scheme will give newly recruited doctors NOK 200,000 a year for two years in “start-up allowance”. If the committee and the municipal director get what they want. – We are confident of recruiting skilled GPs to Karmøy by making financial arrangements better for the individual, writes Nora Olsen-Sund to news in an e-mail. She is the municipal manager for health and care in Karmøy. In total, the municipality estimates that the scheme will cost them around NOK eight million. Fears of housing war and injustice In a letter from the GPs in Karmøy to the municipality, they write that local measures to improve the crisis could be costly if the state does not intervene to secure the rights of the residents. “It no longer provided any guarantee for equal services, as was the intention when the GP scheme was introduced”, they write. Tomorrow’s doctors also doubt that local bonuses are the right way to solve the national crisis, even if they are not in principle against local measures. – In a way, these are only solutions that fix the problem here and now. Which might get one or two extra GPs for the current municipality, but then you might have to take doctors from another municipality, says Maja Elisabeth Mikkelsen. Maja Elisabeth Mikkelsen says she understands municipalities like Karmøy very well that want to test different ways to solve the crisis and give their residents the offer they are entitled to. Photo: Øystein Otterdal / news She is the leader of the Norwegian Medical Student Association and in a few years will be a fully qualified doctor. – It means that you only take doctors from each other, between the municipalities. It does not mean that more people actually want to enter the profession, and that is what we are busy with. Mikkelsen says many municipalities spend a lot of money on attracting doctors. – At the same time, I understand that the municipalities are stepping in and taking action, they are simply forced to do that. But that is because the state abdicates responsibility, she says. Can the recruitment be improved Ruth Mariann Hop (Ap) is the leader of the committee which on Thursday decided to promote the scholarship proposal. She says there was no one who said anything other than that the proposal from the municipal director was a good one. When the case has gone through the chairmanship and the main committee, he is quite sure that it will be adopted by the municipal council when the case comes up on 19 September. – But isn’t this a competition between municipalities – that the highest bidder gets the most doctors? – Yes, as it is now with these quick measures, it is clear that there may be something in it. At the same time, I think all the municipalities are now putting money on the table to do something about the crisis, says Hop. She also says that she believes such local measures can help with recruitment to the profession – exactly what the medical student association is worried about. – Making it better and less risky for new graduates to get a job can improve recruitment at the other end, and the GP profession gets a better reputation. Because there is no doubt that they now have an enormous workload, says Hov. Both Hov, Olsen-Sund and Mikkelsen say they hope and believe in a government, final solution to the GP crisis. Homosexual patient reacts to a doctor’s visit: – The doctor should know better
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Karmøy municipality wants to entice doctors to become permanent doctors with a bonus of NOK 400,000 – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
