Recently, Helse Møre og Romsdal announced that several employees who work with breast cancer surgery have chosen to quit their jobs. Without access to that expertise, the health institution may be forced to send the patients to other places in the country. Astrid Jektvik from Kristiansund is one of those who need the expertise. In 2018, she got breast cancer for the first time. Since then, she has had several relapses. – Then you see how uncertain this is, and the uncertainty we are facing now, it is frightening, says Jektvik, who is also deputy chairman of the Breast Cancer Association for Kristiansund and the surrounding area. Astrid Jektvik says that she becomes insecure about not knowing where she will get help in the future. Photo: Tobias Folland Tennøy / news Looking at solutions The patients in Møre and Romsdal will still be able to receive treatment at the hospital in Ålesund, but the health authority itself has assumed that they cannot rule out that the patients will be sent to St. Olav’s hospital in Trondheim from December onwards. Elisabeth Siebke, who is head of clinic at Ålesund Hospital, says that it is a very sad situation. – Now we have entered into a dialogue with Helse Midt and St. Olavs again to see what solutions we can come up with, she says. Clinic manager Elisabeth Siebke says she is tired of the situation. But she still hasn’t Photo: Tore Ellingseter / news – Going to collapse But doctors in Trondheim believe that they do not have the capacity to accept more patients than they already do. – We are just reaching ourselves. We would like to say that we have exceeded capacity now. We manage to get treated and operated on time, but we have long waiting lists for checks and the entire device. That’s what surgeon Monica Engstrøm says at the orthopedic department at St. Olav’s hospital. At St. Olavs they have over 300 breast cancer operations a year, in Møre and Romsdal the number is around 200. – That tells you how big an increase we should be able to accommodate. It is really quite obvious that we have no chance. – What do you fear will happen if the patients from Møre and Romsdal come here? – I actually feel sick just thinking about it. We are going to collapse, she says. Monica Engstrøm believes they have no chance of accepting more breast cancer patients at St. Olavs. Photo: Bent Lindsetmo / news Is familiar with the case – It is worrying that there is now a shortage of doctors. It is now important that Helse Midt-Norge, which is responsible for the patients in our region, ensures that they receive healthcare elsewhere. That’s what Øystein Svendsen says, who is a senior adviser at the Patient and User Ombudsman in Møre og Romsdal. No one from Helse Midt-Norge will be interviewed today, but the director of communications and community relations, Eiliv Flakne, writes the following in an e-mail to news: “We are aware of this case and will ensure that the patients concerned get a good treatment offer.” Feeling insecure, Jektvik must now go for a check-up with a surgeon once a year. If the offer in Ålesund disappears, she no longer knows where or who to go for a check-up. – You become very insecure. You have had your doctor, the doctor who operated on you. You have felt quite safe, but now you know nothing, she says. She says that it would not be a crisis to have to travel to Trondheim and that the most important thing is that you get help when you need it. – But we have to be sure that we get there, and according to what they say, they don’t have the capacity to receive us. Leader of the Breast Cancer Association for Kristiansund and the surrounding area Mariann Løvik and deputy leader Astrid Jektvik are both worried about what will happen to the breast cancer patients in Møre and Romsdal. Photo: Tobias Folland Tennøy / news But Jektvik is particularly thinking about the journey of those who live further away, and especially those who are in more active treatment than she herself is. – Your form is not good when you are undergoing treatment. I don’t know if you will then have an even longer journey. It is inhumane, she says. – What do you hope will happen? – If it had been like that we could have had it the way we have had it, that would have been great. We must at least be completely confident that we will get somewhere. Whether it will be Ålesund or Trondheim is up to you, but it also looks ugly now, she says. Published 18.09.2024, at 11.56
ttn-69
The breast cancer service in an entire county could disappear: – It is inhumane
