The snowy weather that has moved in over Sweden has not only made it chaotic in traffic. At Danderyd Hospital in Stockholm, 50 percent more patients than usual came in last week. – It is exhausting for the staff, says Stefan Gantelius, head of operations for orthopedics at Danderyd hospital. The last week’s snowstorm, which mainly affected central Sweden, has led to a strained situation in many of the country’s orthopedic departments as a result of slip accidents. During the day, a new snowstorm has moved into the Stockholm area, among other things, which means new challenges for an already fully staffed orthopedics department at Danderyd hospital. Twice as many patients – When the snow storm moved in last week, we received 50 percent more patients than usual. The influx of patients has been greater than usual even during the weekend, says Stefan Gantelius. It is mainly about an increase in wrist and ankle fractures. This means that more people need to be plastered and planned operations are postponed. The consequence will be more to do several weeks ahead. – Some wait longer for an operation than we would have liked to see. Based on staff standing up The orthopedic department is fully booked and some patients are diverted to other clinics that have lent places. Despite this, the hospital assesses that they are able to cope with a medically acceptable level. The department’s ability to cope with the pressure depends on staff agreeing to work overtime. – It is exhausting for them and we are extremely grateful. We need to find recovery for the staff when this is over. The slip accidents come at the same time that Danderyd, like other hospitals in the region, puts an end to hired staff. According to Anette Hein, anesthetist and chairman of Danderyd’s medical association, this means that you cannot perform as many operations. – Planned operations are postponed at all clinics, we have allocated so that orthopedics can perform more operations right now, she says. Strained in several directions Stefan Gantelius has been in contact with his colleagues at the other large hospitals in Stockholm, who describe a similar situation. Several orthopedic departments in hospitals in western and central Sweden have also noticed increased pressure as a result of the weather. At Sahlgrenska University Hospital, the situation is described as very strained, reports Ekot.
t4-general
High pressure on the orthopedist after the snowy weather: “It’s tiring”
