Several hospitals in northern Norway have announced that the strike will create challenges for the health service. There have been problems with getting critical personnel back to work, as well as getting substitutes in place. The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions believes that the problems stem from the fact that the hospitals do not plan well enough, and that they are based on excessive use of temporary employment agencies. – Poor planning at the hospitals can not be a justification for a possible compulsory pay committee for the SAS pilots, says LO deputy head Sissel Skoghaug. She says the hospitals make themselves vulnerable by planning operations by hiring temporary staff instead of permanent employees. It should also be entirely possible to transport patients and employees where they are going even if the SAS pilots go on strike, Skoghaug believes. There are several other players who operate passenger transport in northern Norway, and it should not be impossible to get critical personnel to the hospitals, according to the LO deputy leader. She also rejects claims that there are no realistic transport options for patients in the region. – Patients are mainly treated within their health region, and transport of patients largely takes place with other transport than with SAS, she says. After several hospitals have reported challenges as a result of the strike, the Norwegian Board of Health has assessed whether the consideration for life and health is in danger. The audit’s report will be handed over to the Ministry of Labor and Social Inclusion on Tuesday afternoon. Municipal health service is struggling Health, care and welfare in Sør-Varanger municipality is struggling to maintain normal operations as a result of the air strike. The municipal management has participated in a status meeting with the state administrator, the health trust and the Norwegian Board of Health. The background for the meeting is the very challenging staffing situation that the entire sector is in, the municipality writes in a press release. Mayor of Sør-Varanger municipality, Lena Norum Bergeng says that the situation is both serious and precarious. – The situation is serious, because we do not get people back from vacation. We have had to scale down our offer, and it goes especially hard beyond home-based care, says Norum Bergeng. SERIOUS: Mayor Lena Norum Bergeng says that the home service, among other things, is not allowed to perform cleaning at people’s homes due to lack of staffing. Photo: Kristina Kalinina / news The mayor says that they currently lack so many people at work that they cannot perform certain home services. – We hope that there will be a solution very, very soon. If not, you have to go in with a compulsory wage board. However, there is no danger to life and health yet. Will be demanding next week – We know from yesterday’s meeting that the rosters next week are even more challenging. More people go on holiday, and if the strike continues, health personnel are in other countries or at resorts, says Elisabeth Vik Aspaker, state administrator in Troms and Finnmark Assistant county doctor in Troms and Finnmark, Astrid Teigland, says that the situation for the health service right now is vulnerable, but under control. She also says that it may be more difficult to staff next week if the strike continues. – Possibly some planned treatment may have to go out in favor of taking care of the emergency preparedness, because the staffing of the hospitals can be so small.
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Strikes affected by strikes have planned too poorly – news Troms and Finnmark
