14 out of 24 intensive care nurses at the thoracic surgery section at Oslo University Hospital, OUS, have quit their jobs in protest. A further five say they will do the same. The department is responsible for diseases that require surgical treatment in the heart, lungs and central blood vessels. It was TV 2 that first mentioned the case. Reacting to cuts The employees are reacting to the fact that the management has changed the rotation without talking to the nurses, and that they have decided to keep a department closed for the summer to save money, says company trustee Rolf-André Oxholm to news. The hospital has previously announced that they are planning cuts that correspond to around 500 man-years. Vegard Andreas Jacobsen, chief union representative, Norwegian Nurses Association Photo: Rolf Petter Olaisen / news Chief union representative Vegard Andreas Jacobsen of the Norwegian Nurses Association says the mass redundancies will have major consequences for the operation of the hospital. – The consequences in practice will be that it will not be advisable to carry out heart surgery at Ullevål hospital from 1 May, he says to news. The OUS management underlines that there is a fully operational department at Rikshospitalet that can take care of such surgery when it is not possible at Ullevål. Have warned the management Oxholm says the management at the hospital over several years has proposed to carry out the measures they are now advocating. The goal has been to save money. He says the shop stewards have warned management several times that it could lead to mass redundancies. Rolf-André Oxholm, trustee, Norwegian Nurses Association Photo: Rolf Petter Olaisen / news – They have chosen not to believe that. So it is very sad that we are standing there, that extremely competent employees have resigned, says Oxholm. But the nurses who are now disappearing out the doors at OUS will not be unemployed for long. – They have an extremely sought-after expertise like all intensive care units, but also all hospitals in the entire Austland area, scream for. So they have all worked together, he says. Critical situation Anesthetist at Ullevål and trustee for the seniors, Erik Høiskar, believes it is a big problem that so many people in the same department resign at the same time. He believes that they will be difficult to replace, and that it will affect the patients. Trustee for the chief of staff at Ullevål hospital, Erik Høiskar. Photo: Jenny Dahl Bakken – It’s critical, and it has to do with the fact that this is major surgery. Lung cancer surgery and heart surgery. These intensive care nurses are absolutely decisive for precisely that treatment. He believes the situation could have been avoided. – It seems that there has been very poor dialogue. And then I think that there is something that could have been done differently, so that we avoided getting into this situation. I think it is surprising that we have come to such a situation where you get so many redundancies. Message of concern before Christmas news has seen a message of concern that the trustees and protection representative sent to the management in November. Here it emerges, among other things, that the termination of the original rotation was done without a risk assessment, that there will be fewer nurses on weekdays, and that the nurses believe that the rotation proposal does not take into account professional development for intensive care nurses, illness or vacation. They ask questions about how to ensure proper operations and take care of the patients. According to the employees, the changes will lead to increased waiting times and affect patient safety. They wrote that they were worried about emergency preparedness. No budget cuts Head of Clinic at the Heart, Lung and Vascular Clinic at OUS, Bjørn Bendz, says it is sad that so many people quit. But he believes the changes are necessary. Clinic manager Bjørn Bendz Photo: Geir Olsen / NTB – OUS is working to create a heart and lung surgery center where expertise will be pooled. This is planned to be implemented in 2025. He denies that the changes they will now implement have anything to do with the budget for 2023. Asking the Minister of Health to get involved But in the political environment, they see a clear connection between budget cuts and employees escaping OUS. – This is an announced crisis, says health policy spokesperson for Raudt, Seher Aydar. – Now the employees will be exploited. this shows that the elastic has been stretched far. The employees have notified and put their foot down for unjustified cuts, but are not listened to. She says Health Minister Ingvild Kjerkol (Ap) can no longer sit as a contributor to the crisis. The demand that the minister must come to the field also comes from the FRP and Venstre. – Kjerkol has wanted cuts in hospitals, and now we see the consequences, says Bård Hoksrud (Frp). – This is a sad matter for both the employees and the patients. Professionals in the health sector are in short supply in Norway, and we must take care of all the skilled people we have, he says. – This is yet another example of management carrying out mindless cuts that weaken the patient offer, says Alfred Bjørlo (V). Kjerkhol: The hospital must find solutions. news has been in contact with the Ministry of Health, which states that the Minister of Health does not want to be interviewed about the matter. But Kjerkhol’s office has sent this comment by e-mail: – We both want and need to retain skilled professionals in the public health service, and intensive care nurses are an important personnel group in hospitals. It is revealed that a demanding situation has arisen at Oslo University Hospital, in that so many important employees have resigned from one and the same department. – The case in question that has been made known today must now be handled by OUS, which has both employer responsibility and responsibility for sound services to the population. The hospital must, possibly in collaboration with Helse Sør-Aust, find solutions that provide a reasonable range of services to the population in the future as well. Up in the board next week The board of the OUS will adopt the much-discussed cuts at the hospital on Thursday in a week’s time. In a message on the hospital’s internal computer network, which news has seen, managing director Bjørn Atle Bjørnbeth writes that the demand for restructuring is the same despite the fact that the government has announced more money for the hospital. – We must reduce 4-500 man-years in 2023. We are facing tough changes every day, and we are working hard to find ways to reduce our costs, writes Bjørnbeth. The deputy chairman of the health and social affairs committee in Oslo City Council, Morten Edvardsen (Sp), is particularly critical of the fact that the cuts are partly made to raise money to build new hospitals in Gaustad and Aker. – Instead of shielding patients from cuts, OUS should use the extra funds from the government to build the giant project in Gaustad. It is totally irresponsible, he says.
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Nurse flight from department at OUS – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
