The hospital in Gravdal is the only hospital in Lofoten. A couple of weeks ago, a working group in Helse Nord proposed to demote this particular hospital to a district medical centre. In other words, it will not be possible to get emergency medical help if this becomes a reality. This has led to large protests. On 16 November there were large demonstrations outside the hospital in Gravdal. It happened a few days after it became clear that the working group recommended turning the hospital into a DMS. Photo: news Finance Minister and Sp-leader Trygve Slagsvold Vedum came to Lofoten on Monday. Key members of the Center Party have previously expressed criticism of the report. The otherwise laughable party leader agrees, but gives no guarantees. – The government is concerned with ensuring a safe and good emergency preparedness in the north, and ensuring that Helse Nord also has the resources to be able to run the hospital in a good way, says Vedum to news. In short, Lofoten Hospital, the only hospital in the area, can be converted into a DMS, something that will remove the possibility of emergency medical help. The proposal has led to large demonstrations and criticism, including from the Center Party. Minister of Finance and SP leader Trygve Slagsvold Vedum visited Lofoten and expressed the government’s desire to ensure safe and good emergency preparedness in the north. Several members of the Center Party have spoken out against the centralization of hospitals and underline the importance of local hospitals for emergency preparedness in Northern Norway. Sp leader in Nordland, Frank Johnson, believes that a closure of the Lofoten hospital could lead to a government crisis. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAI. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. Parliamentary Sp leader: – Does not support centralization Earlier this autumn, parliamentary leader Marit Arnstad in Sp said that they do not support centralization of hospitals. – We need safe conditions for people in the north when it comes to emergency and maternity services. She pointed out that the Total Preparedness Commission has said that hospitals in Northern Norway are incredibly important in the context of preparedness. Storting representative Siv Mossleth (Sp), who also sits on the health and care committee, also agrees. – No emergency or maternity services in the current adopted hospital structure can be cut, she told news earlier in November. But the leader of the Center Party is not as clear in his speech. – For the time being, it is only a matter of a working group. We still do not know where Helse Nord will land. We will have to take that when the time comes, says Vedum to news måndag. – Are they suggesting good emergency preparedness? – Having good emergency preparedness in Northern Norway is important. Therefore, extra resources are required to ensure a good supply to the part of the country that has quite a lot of rough weather and long distances. On Saturday, it became clear that many people are resigning from the local team to the Labor Party in Vestvågøy municipality because of the hospital case. But county leader Frank Johnsen in Nordland Sp does not think the same will happen in the Center Party. – No, I don’t fear that. Leader of the Center Party in Nordland, Frank Johnsen, believes that the Center Party has been clear about what they think about hospitals in the district. Photo: John Inge Johansen / news He is not surprised that Vedum is not more clear about whether they want to protect emergency preparedness in Lofoten. – I understand it well. He is the head of another ministry, and has been as clear as he can. Johnsen says he has spent much of his time with Vedum måndag conveying how dependent they are on the hospital. A political decision in the end The SP leader in Nordland believes that there could be a government crisis if the hospital in Lofoten is down. – If we fail to settle this case, the worst case scenario could be that the Center Party leaves the government. – In such demanding situations it is important to talk to people and listen, says Vedum on a visit to Gravdal hospital in Lofoten. Photo: Vilde Bratland Erikstad / news Vedum does not want to be involved in the possibility of a government crisis. – We must solve this. Here, a subgroup in Helse Nord has come up with its assessment. Helse Nord has not yet landed. The government is passionate about developing the whole of Norway, promises Vedum. – Now there is a bit of noise, but here we have to land safely and soundly and ensure emergency preparedness. Doctor: – I still have hope Department head Robert Hammer at the medical department at Nordlandssjukehuset Lofoten, says that he had a positive experience of the meeting with Vedum måndag. – He stood listening and took frequent and good notes. It seems as if he came to become wiser, says Hammar. Vedum made no promises, but the superintendent still believes that the hospital can be preserved. – If we can persuade Vedum that we should have a hospital here and emergency fusions, then we will have come a long way, says Robert Hammer, head of department at the medical department in Nordlandssjukehuset Lofoten, he still says Photo: Vilde Bratland Erikstad / news – I still have hope, because it will be a much worse offer for Lofoten’s population if they shut down emergency preparedness, says the superior. – In any case, it seems as if he guarantees that he will take it further. – Do you think that the Center Party will be saved in this matter? – It may very well be that they stay. After all, they have been against both the company model and many of the ways in which the health sector is organised. Political commentator at news, Tone Sofie Aglen, says in Dagsnytt 18 on Monday evening that the reason why Vedum is coming to Lofoten now is to send a clear signal of what the Center Party thinks about the matter. Photo: Ole Kaland / Ole Kaland, news Political commentator Tone Sofie Aglen in news, says in Dagsnytt 18 måndag that the Center Party is freer to express itself politically than the Labor Party, which has given Helse Nord the task of looking at its distribution of work. Therefore, there is a danger that the Labor Party will be left with “black pepper”. Nor is Aglen convinced that the emergency response at the hospital in Lofoten will be shut down. – Helse Nord is able to read political signals, and will probably not hurt themselves so much that they will present this proposal at the board meeting in January.
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Trygve Slagsvold Vedum (Sp) will not promise to protect the hospital – news Nordland
