– It is not the case that everyone who writes a review of a therapist gets it published with us, says Lars Haakon Søraas. He is the founder and managing director of the website Legelisten.no. Here, patients can provide a public assessment of their therapists, including GPs. news recently published the case of a GP in Rogaland who, after seven previous breaches of the Health Personnel Act, is now being investigated by the Norwegian Health Authority once again. Lars Haakon Søraas is the general manager of Legelisten.no. He calls for closer cooperation with the supervisory authorities. Photo: Legelisten On Legelisten.no, the doctor in question had received almost only bad reviews from his patients through dozens of feedbacks. Søraas does not want to say anything about whether there are many unpublished reviews of this doctor. – But in general I can say that some of the assessments we receive cannot be published. One of the reasons for rejection is that the assessments contain allegations of malpractice. Other reasons may be that they are written in inappropriate or poor language. The GP of Louisa’s partner (35) has been charged with several breaches of the Health Personnel Act. She believes that the Norwegian Health Authority is acting far too late. Photo: Benjamin Dyrdal / news – Could have reacted earlier Søraas believes that the supervisory authorities, in their work with patient safety, should be more forward-leaning and open to using information from various sources, such as assessments on Legelisten.no, in order to detect healthcare personnel who potentially may be unsafe for patients. – This can also apply to unpublished assessments, he says. – Had the supervisory authorities made greater use of such information, this doctor could have received the necessary follow-up earlier, or possibly been stripped of his authorization sooner, adds Søraas. The Norwegian Health Authority believes it has many sources of information about, among other things, GPs who are met with criticism. Photo: Scanpix He has recently been in dialogue with a state administrative office, the Norwegian Health Inspectorate and the Ministry of Health and Care about the issue. In a reply from June, department director Atle Gøhtesen of the Norwegian Health Inspectorate writes that there is nothing to prevent actors such as Legelisten.no from contacting the state administrator and providing such information, but notes at the same time that “it can be difficult to follow up such cases without a complaint directly from the patient”. The Norwegian Health Authority points out that they have many sources of information about possible objectionable conditions apart from the patients themselves. Atle Gøhtesen gives as examples of this the police, the media, health personnel, employers and pharmacies. – Too passive – Unfortunately, the answers we have received indicate very little interest in using the type of information that the Medical List represents in the work with patient safety, Søraas believes. He understands that this is a new type of information source that can be demanding to deal with. And he understands that there are important questions related to, among other things, privacy that need to be clarified. Louisa (35) found no reactions to her partner’s GP when she checked Legelisten.no. Photo: Benjamin Dyrdal / news – At the same time, we believe that by using this type of information, patient safety can be improved. And good patient safety is extremely important to maintain people’s trust in the public health service, says Søraas. When news searches for information about Louisa’s partner’s GP on Legelisten.no, it says that he had no registered reactions from the Norwegian Health Authority in the period 2010 to December 2023. Louisa made a similar search. At the same time, news’s document review shows that the doctor in question has a long list of assessments from the county doctor or the Norwegian Health Authority that he has broken the Health Personnel Act. Some of these cases have ended with warnings. The Norwegian Data Protection Authority demands deletion – Why is the information on Legelisten.no deficient in this area? – Our challenge is that we do not get access to assessments about offenses that are not sanctioned with a reaction. Furthermore, we have been required by the Norwegian Data Protection Authority to delete information about reactions after a certain period. Warnings that the Norwegian Health Authority can impose on healthcare personnel must, for example, be deleted after three years, says Lars Haakon Søraas. GPs’ average grade is 4.2 among users 5,000 of the around 5,500 GPs in Norway have been rated on Legelisten.no. There are just over 125,000 assessments in the database. news is informed that the average grade for GPs is approximately 4.2 out of 5.0. In consultation with a lawyer, Legelisten will now go through another round with the Norwegian Data Protection Authority and ask them to reverse this decision. The Supreme Court held that the general public’s need for information about providers of health services outweighs the consideration of health personnel’s privacy. – Few doctors stand out negatively Lars Haakon Søraas emphasizes that his clear opinion is that the vast majority of GPs in Norway receive good reviews from their patients. – We are lucky in Norway to have many skilled GPs. There are only a very few who stand out in a negative way, he says. The patient and user ombudsman, on the other hand, urges caution by slavishly using assessments from, for example, the Medical Register. Jannicke Bruvik. Photo: Arne Stubhaug / news – Every doctor has 1,000–1,500 patients on their list, but very few consultations end with comments from patients, and then this says little about the work a doctor does, says Jannicke Bruvik, who is the national coordinator of patient and user representative. – But if there are many negative comments about a doctor, and these are about the same conditions, then there may be a greater reason to give the feedback importance, she believes. – When the ombudsman receives inquiries from patients, what is this about? – Of course, it varies, but many recurring situations relate to tasks at GPs which take too long, or which are simply forgotten. This probably just reflects a strong work pressure among the professional group, she says. Published 19.09.2024, at 05.57
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Much criticism of doctors is hidden from patients – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
