The patients are too sick to be sent home, and too healthy to occupy a hospital bed. But the nursing homes do not have the capacity to receive more patients. Therefore, “healthy” patients stay in bed and take up places that the hospitals desperately need. Figures from hospitals across the country show that the number of patients who are not allowed to come to their municipality for further treatment increased from 2021 to 2022. In Nordland, Andøy tops the statistics, with 884 inpatient days last year. Ann Christin Hansen at Andøy Nursing Home says patients describe long, hard days in hospital. Photo: Andreas Trygstad / news – It is very sad for the individual. We want to welcome them, says head of department at Andøy nursing home, Ann Christin Hansen. The municipality has known about the lack of capacity for a long time. Ten vacancies The nursing home has 24 beds, but 3 rooms are now empty. It is not possible to accept more patients ready for discharge from the hospital because the municipality lacks personnel. – We have ten vacancies. We use all temporary workers as much as possible, but it is not enough. Hansen has spoken to patients who describe long and difficult days in hospital, long after they should have been discharged. – A patient asked every day if he had been given a place in a nursing home. The patient said he felt safer in a nursing home than in a hospital. Two reasons for the problem – We have a national staffing crisis that hits a small municipality like ours hard. That’s what councilor in Andøy, Andreas Jordell, says. He points to two reasons for the high number of patients the municipality cannot accept. – We have a newly built nursing home that neither has enough rooms nor personnel to receive the worst patients. – We also have a shortage of care homes. This means that we do not have sufficient capacity to accept those users who are at a stage between living at home and in a nursing home. He says that the municipality is in the process of building new care homes, but that it will take two years to complete. UNN tops the statistics on the number of bed days. Photo: UNN UNN at the top Autumn and winter have taken a toll on hospitals all over the country. Many viral diseases in circulation have resulted in more admissions, and the hospitals have struggled with sick staff. news has asked for figures on the number of days in bed for patients ready for discharge from all hospitals. Tromsø municipality tops the statistics with over 8,000 days. 9 out of 20 healthcare organizations have responded to news’s inquiries. The preliminary statistics look like this: The figures show a clear preponderance of inpatient days at the University Hospital in Northern Norway. Expensive for the municipalities In addition to the fact that it is inconvenient for the patients themselves, and the hospitals, which have limited opportunities to accept new patients, the municipalities must also compensate for the situation. Literally. The municipalities must pay for patients ready for discharge who remain in hospital awaiting a municipal offer, it is stated on the Directorate of Health’s website. A municipality pays NOK 5,306 per day when a patient who should have been sent to the home municipality for further treatment, instead remains in hospital. Andøy municipality has thus paid close to NOK 4.7 million in 2022. Andøy nursing home is experiencing a staffing crisis. Photo: Andreas Trygstad / news – We have a long way to go Distributed across its three hospitals, Nordlandssykehuset today, Monday, has 25 patients ready for discharge. This corresponds to an entire bed post. The finished patients occupy hospital beds and lead to longer waiting times and can result in poorer preparedness, according to Nordlandssykehuset. They have established green preparedness due to the capacity challenges. – It is a problem at all our hospitals, says Nordlandssykehuset’s head of cooperation, Trude Kristensen. Nordlandssykehuset’s head of cooperation, Trude Kristensen, describes the situation as worrying. Photo: Bente H Johansen / news Vesterålen is a particularly vulnerable area, she says, and refers to the situation as pressure. – The patients ready for discharge are part of the total calculation. These are patients who do not need specialist healthcare services and could receive services at a different level in the municipalities. Kristensen believes that the hospitals and the municipality have a joint duty to ensure that patients receive the treatment and follow-up they need, but: – When there is a need for municipal follow-up, it is the municipalities who have that duty, she adds. Nevertheless, she understands the situation the municipalities face. – In the dialogue with the municipalities, they have said that they also have challenges related to space and personnel. Kristensen says Nordlandssykehuset has seen a marked increase in the number of bed days. – We have a population trend which means that we must interact better and make better arrangements so that we use the capacity in our joint service well enough. We have a long way to go. – Some manage, others struggle Minister of Health and Care, Ingvild Kjerkol, says it is important that hospitals and municipalities are able to interact. – Now we are in a time where there are many epidemics at the same time. It is a tough virus season and there must be good cooperation for this to go well. – It is important to add that there are large geographical variations. Some manage to cooperate well, while others struggle. Health Minister Kjerkol says the ministry will submit a new health and cooperation plan. Photo: Even Bjøringsøy Johnsen / news Kjerkol says the ministry is concerned with good transitions and will therefore present a new health and cooperation plan, ten years after the cooperation reform. – It is time that we go through this so that patients experience good patient outcomes. – Does the problem lie with the municipalities? – I don’t want to say anything exact about that. It can be different depending on where in the country and which hospitals we are looking at. The collaboration report clarified the responsibilities between the municipalities and the hospitals, says the minister, who believes that some have developed good ways of doing it, but not all. – I think we must be able to achieve a uniform health service.
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Patients ready to be discharged are filling up Norwegian hospitals – news Nordland
