The crew has to get up – Statement

Today, staffing levels in nursing homes do not allow for dignified treatment. We must ensure better person-centred care in elderly care, and then we must have enough people at work. After reading the statement from a concerned nursing home doctor, in which he gives a very strong warning from today’s healthcare system, I am more worried than ever before. We have known for a long time that staffing in elderly care has major challenges, but now the warning lights are on full blast. We can no longer control this with other measures. The crew has to get up. When Tonje Brenna ran through the compulsory wage board before the summer, she justified it by saying that the staffing level during a possible strike posed a danger to life. That level today corresponds to regular weekend staffing. As Minister of Health, Ingvild Kjerkol was very concerned that we were going to have more elderly people on fewer hands. How will this turn out when we are already facing a staffing crisis today. Neither she nor the current health minister, Jan Christian Vestre, have come up with direct solutions for these challenges. Until now, much has been about streamlining, but we can no longer ask the employees to run faster. When Vestre was asked about staffing in the event of a crisis, he replied: “At the same time, we have dedicated personnel, which the pandemic has shown us, and that is a massive strength”. This does not seem like a minister who has taken to heart the impact the pandemic brought on staffing in the healthcare system. Nor what the employees themselves are clamoring for. All credit to our dedicated staff in elderly care, but we cannot continue to pressure an already pressured profession because the staff feel a conscience. We wear them out, and we already see how many are now quitting. In addition, today’s healthcare system spends far too many billions on bringing in temporary workers from staffing agencies. Such waste cannot be justified when the root of the staffing challenge is not addressed. We hear the employees talk about the extra burden it puts on the department to bring in a temporary worker who does not know the workplace. Because in addition to your normal work duties, you will also be responsible for following up on rotating temporary workers. With the co-operation reform, increasingly ill and elderly people in need of care are being discharged from hospitals, and the municipal nursing homes and home services are given major care tasks. That is why it is so important to put in place increased staffing to ensure quality, according to the burden of care, i.e. according to the health and care needs of the individual elderly. Today, a night watchman can be responsible for 30 residents in a sheltered ward. It is not appropriate for the guard to just count heads when we are to ensure tailored treatment to meet the individual’s needs. Quality in care for the elderly requires that the work is attractive to all occupational groups needed for dignified care for the elderly. Several professional groups must enter nursing homes to create vibrant everyday life. Arrangements must be made to ensure that all employees in elderly care have the opportunity for professional development. Employees must be given more responsibility and opportunities to manage their own work. Therefore, we will ensure increased staffing and strengthen the offer of good professional environments for the employees. This is the best solution for keeping those already employed in the professions, and ensuring that more will be added. Published 06.08.2024, at 11.11



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