– I am getting more and more worried as time goes by, says pharmacy manager Pål Espen Johannessen on Tuesday evening to news. news meets him in connection with an internal meeting at Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen. Representatives of the Norwegian Medicines Agency trooped up here on Monday and Tuesday. The aim: To supervise the pharmacy in the hospital. The background for the inspection is a disturbing warning from pharmacy manager Johannessen. He believes that the pharmacies that supply hospitals throughout Norway with medicines are not capable of supplying a number of sterile medicines. Sterile drugs are important, among other things, when drugs are to be injected into a patient’s body. Now Johannessen has sounded the alarm about such drugs. CONFLICT: The pharmacy supplies the entire country with medicines. Now the pharmacy manager sounds the alarm about the conditions. Photo: Simon Skjelvik Brandseth / news Important water plant out of operation The reason is that a water plant that sterilizes the medicines has been out of operation for most of 2022 and so far in 2023. – The longer this water plant is out of operation, the greater the danger of that we will not be able to deliver more goods. Because we are emptying the stock we have of already manufactured products. It was BT who first mentioned the matter. news was present when a meeting was held on Tuesday evening about the whistleblower case and the circumstances that come to light. Fears danger to life and health The hospital pharmacy is one of the largest in the country. Johannessen is chief executive of six departments and 135 employees. news has been given access to the notice. Here Johannessen writes that: The hospital pharmacy “delivers important sterile medicines at a national level, which other hospital pharmacies in the country do not have the machinery to supply. In the extreme, life and health are put at risk here” INSPECTION INSPECTION: Inspector Line Saxegaard in the Norwegian Medicines Agency has carried out an inspection at the pharmacy over two days. Photo: Mette Anthun The Norwegian Medicines Agency, the State Administrator, the county doctor and the Norwegian Labor Inspectorate have all received the same notice. – The reason I gave notice was that over a long period of time in 2022 I have reported concerns internally in my own company. I don’t feel that I have been taken seriously enough, he tells news on the way into the internal meeting. He says that the pharmacy has had to say no to orders because of the faulty water system. Internal meeting after inspection On Tuesday, a summary meeting was held about the case after the inspection. In addition to Johansen, Supervisor Line Saxegaard in the Norwegian Medicines Agency and CEO of Sjukehusapoteka Vest, Jon Bolstad and Johannessen were present. AWAITING REPORT: The CEO of Sjukehusapoteka Vest, Jon Bolstad, does not want to answer the concerns in detail. Photo: Mette Anthun Saxegaard does not want to draw conclusions after the inspection to news after the meeting, but says this about the defective water system: – Something must be done, but it is being done. Bolstad does not want to respond directly to the concerns, but rather wait for the Swedish Medicines Agency’s upcoming report on the matter. – We take this very seriously. I think the work that has been done so far is very thorough and I understand that it takes some time. With the knowledge from the inspection and the measures we have taken, our assessment is that there is no danger to life and health, he tells news after the meeting. – We deliver nothing that does not have the quality the law says it should have, he adds. Wants operations engineer Pharmacy manager Johannessen has wanted to hire an operations engineer to solve the problem with the water system, but is said to have been unsuccessful in this. He further believes that the lack of an office manager leads to work pressure, which he believes contributes to an unsafe working environment at the pharmacy. On this very point, Bolstad tells BT that the pharmacy has an agreement with Helse Bergen regarding coverage of engineering expertise and that a new office manager has been hired. Johannessen refers to the meeting as constructive when he later meets news again. – Now it has been two demanding days, with many interviews and the sending of documentation. I’ve been up late at night, so I need to gather some strength. Bring me in, he says. Do you have any tips for news on the matter? Contact news’s journalist!
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– Not suitable for delivery of sterile medicinal products – news Vestland
