On Tuesday morning, Health and Care Minister Ingvild Kjerkol (Ap) gave the hospital speech at St. Olav’s hospital in Trondheim. There she presented her demands for the hospitals for the year: Hospitals must have a critical review of their own use of temporary workers Health organizations must prepare a joint report on staffing Professionals must spend more time on patients Vulnerable children and young people must be followed up Kjerkol does not hide that the economic development in society means that the hospitals have to turn off the tap. – I would ask the health sectors to look at what they can do less of, says Kjerkol in the speech. Fewer substitutes The Minister of Health says in his speech that tight budgets mean that major investment projects and hospital maintenance may have to be postponed. Kjerkol believes there is an overuse of laboratory and X-ray services, and the hospitals must now map out their use, she says. In addition, the hospitals must cut down on the use of temporary workers and limit hiring, Kjerkol believes. In 2021, health institutions spent NOK 648 million on temporary services, according to the Norwegian Nurses Association. According to the government, the aim of this requirement is to create better working conditions and safe employees. – We have to put an end to paying more for the same type of professionals through the agencies than if they were employees of the hospital, says Kjerkol. Kristin Kornelia Utne is leader of the Young Doctors’ Association. She supports Kjerkol’s wish for full, permanent positions in the health care system, but believes it will be difficult to make large cuts in the use of temporary workers. – But in the situation we are in with the backlog after the pandemic and the great need for health services, I think it will be very difficult. If we are not going to use subcontracting, it means that our own employees will have to work more overtime. It worries me in terms of the burden on those in the service, says Utne. Major cuts at Oslo University Hospital The health organizations must also produce a joint report on personnel and competence development, says Kjerkol in the speech. Among other things, it will provide an overview of the need for specialists. There they must have clear measures to recruit, further develop and retain professionals, says the Minister of Health and Care. – Our scarcest resource is competent professionals, says Kjerkol in the speech. Lill Sverresdatter Larsen is the union leader of the Norwegian Nurses’ Association. She thinks Kjerkol mentioned little about what measures the hospitals must take to retain professionals. – To talk about us investing in our joint health service in the same breath as hospitals having to prioritize away and down, it simply makes little sense. The hospitals are experiencing increasing recruitment problems, a problem that was previously “reserved” for the municipalities. There is now a real danger that more nurses will switch to staffing agencies or leave the profession. The Minister of Health plays a high game, says Sverresdatter Larsen. Major cuts at Oslo University Hospital On the same day that Kjerkol asked the hospitals to cut hiring and temporary workers, Oslo University Hospital notified internally of cuts in over 440 full-time employees. For example, the clinic for mental health and addiction will cut 80 man-years. And the women’s clinic down 30. For several departments, these come on top of other cuts. In the emergency department, they must reach 40 man-years – on top of the 40 that were all planned to be cut. Trade union representatives news talks to say the cuts in their departments will be made by cuts in the use of substitutes and overtime, and by people having to reduce positions or working hours. Trade union representative Anne Helle Hauan at the women’s clinic calls for honesty: – The order from Kjerkol is clear, we must reduce man-years, there must be a reduction in hiring and overtime. But then someone must also be clear and say, “what should we stop doing”, she believes. Want to protect mental health Even if budgets have to be cut, Kjerkol wants hospitals to prioritize mental health and protect mental health services. – There is a need for a special effort to strengthen the provision for people with serious mental disorders, who also have substance abuse disorders, says Kjerkol. The government is therefore strengthening 24-hour treatment within mental healthcare with NOK 150 million. It is particularly vulnerable children and young people who must be prioritized in the healthcare system, says Kjerkol. A low-threshold provision for substance abuse and mental health care in the municipalities will also be increased by NOK 150 million. Health Minister Kjerkol also wants professionals in the hospitals to spend more of their time on patients, and less time on reporting. Among other things, the healthcare organizations must go through the reporting requirements in mental health care and in interdisciplinary drug treatment. Addressed the Helseplattformen The new record system Helseplattformen in central Norway was also a topic in the Minister of Health’s speech. There have been many challenges since the introduction at St. Olav in November, and Kjerkol understands the frustration of employees at the hospital. – But if you succeed in introducing the new platform, there will be gains at the other end, she says. On Friday, news reported that a patient died of a stroke at St. Olav, and that the county doctor links the death to the Health Platform. I want to be careful with a representation where there were no problems in the old and outdated record system, because there were, says Kjerkol to news’s reporter on the spot. – What responsibility do you have? – I am responsible for providing the overall framework for finances and prioritization. I am the one who most wants them to solve the problems, so professionals can concentrate on their work tasks. But we must understand that it is demanding to introduce such major system changes, says Kjerkol.
ttn-69
Minister of Health Ingvild Kjerkol (Ap) asks hospitals to tighten the use of substitutes – news Trøndelag
