On Thursday afternoon, Helse Møre og Romsdal announced that they are consolidating the birth and maternity wards in Molde until the new joint hospital for Nordmøre and Romsdal is ready in 2025. – It has long been an unsettled situation. Now we have to create predictability for the employees, says managing director Øyvind Bakke. He says it is important both for those giving birth and for those employed in Kristiansund and Molde that there is now a clarification. – We have spent a lot of time and resources on successfully reopening in Kristiansund. In the future, we are concentrating on a joint maternity ward for Nordmøre and Romsdal, says Bakke. Wish they could stay open Bakke says they wish they had managed to stay open in Kristiansund. Managing director of Helse Møre og Romsdal, Øyvind Bakke and Minister of Health Ingvild Kjerkol during the visit to Kristiansund hospital in August. Photo: Marius André Jenssen Stenberg / news – There is a shortage of both midwives and gynecologists throughout the country. When we are not successful with recruitment, it is important that we are able to rally around one childcare offer for Nordmøre and Romsdal, and good follow-up services. Because if we don’t succeed with that, the alternative is Ålesund or Trondheim. – Is this the end of the matter? – We will carry out an assessment, as stated in the Hurdalsplattforma, about a maternity service in Kristiansund also after 2025. That assessment is a task for the health authority, says Bakke. Will not instruct At the end of August, Minister of Health Ingvild Kjerkol (Ap) visited the hospital in Kristiansund. Then she promised to come up with a quick clarification about the future of the maternity ward. Health Minister Ingvild Kjerkol (Ap) asks Health Møre and Romsdal to come back with a plan for how they will secure maternity services in Nordmøre. Photo: Marius André Jenssen Stenberg / news The visit came after three hospital managers resigned from their jobs. They thought it was not possible to reopen the department, which is the only one in the country with a parliamentary decision to remain open. Nevertheless, the North Moors had to wait for many weeks before the clarification came. In the proposal for the state budget, the Minister of Health said that the government’s goal of a maternity ward in Kristiansund is ready. Nevertheless, she does not want to do anything active to ensure a reopening. – The department will be reopened if a professionally sound offer comes into place, but the Minister of Health will not instruct the health company to reopen without the basis for sound operation being present, writes the Ministry of Health and Care in a press release. At the same time, they asked Helse Møre and Romsdal to come up with a plan for how a good maternity service should be continued after 2025, and the assessment of an own maternity unit in Kristiansund, in line with the Hurdal platform. The government has allocated NOK 25 million in the budget for 2023 to strengthen the offer for childbirth and maternity care in the region, in addition to the offer at Kristiansund hospital. Also in the past, the Storting has allowed NOK 25 million to get the department back on its feet. Closed several times The Storting has previously decided that the maternity ward in Kristiansund will remain open until a new joint hospital for Nordmøre and Romsdal is ready in 2025. Nevertheless, the maternity ward has mostly been closed since February 2021 due to staffing problems. In June this year, the department was able to reopen, because critical personnel were finally in place. Three weeks later, the department was closed for the summer. After the holiday, one of the employees called in sick and the department was never opened again. Now this could be the end for the maternity ward in Kristiansund. Roller coaster Mayor of Kristiansund Kjell Neergaard (Ap) describes today as a roller coaster. Photo: Marius André Jenssen Stenberg / news – I was pleasantly surprised by what came from the Minister of Health earlier today. And that it would be best to work for good maternity services in Kristiansund also after 2025. Then two hours pass and then there is a press release from Helse Møre and Romsdal where they want to bring together the maternity wards in Molde. I am a little surprised by the quick conclusion, he says to news. Neergaard says he had expected that Helse Møre og Romsdal would spend more time trying and recruiting. Especially since extra funds were allowed for the maternity department in the state budget. – Is the battle lost now? – According to the Norwegian Health Authority, it is. Then we’ll see what we can do. But it’s a very demanding matter, so I’m a little empty in the head after what has happened today. This was a day that started well, but still with great frustration. – The Health Authority is responsible. Minister of Health Kjerkol tells news that it is Helse Møre og Romsdal that is responsible for professionally sound maternity services. – I am not going to take over that responsibility for them. It is their assessment of how they will interpret the possibilities to look after the birthing mother in the best possible way. Kjerkol expects that the case will have reactions, but believes that a good job has been done in trying and recruiting to the maternity ward, without it being closed. – A maternity ward must have sufficient competence to receive women in labour. It is now important to have a good escort service for those who have to travel long distances. Kjerkol says it is Helse Møre and Romsdal that must assess whether it is possible to staff the maternity ward in Kristiansund. Photo: Marius André Jenssen Stenberg / news Coming with more measures Bakke i Helse Møre and Romsdal say that they will work for safe maternity services in Nordmøre and Romsdal in the future. He says they will continue risk-reducing measures, as a follow-up service for all pregnant women with more than a 90-minute journey to hospital. Øyvind Bakke, managing director of Helse Møre og Romsdal, says they must work to ensure a good offer for women giving birth in Møre og Romsdal. Photo: Josef Benoni Ness Tveit / news – The health care ceiling will cover hotel expenses for women with long journeys who want to travel to the maternity ward before giving birth. In addition, they must offer extra ultrasound examinations for women with a journey of more than 90 minutes to plan for a safe birth.
ttn-69
The Minister of Health will not instruct Health Møre og Romsdal about the maternity ward in Kristiansund – news Møre og Romsdal – Local news, TV and radio
