Already a few days ago, the Norrbotten Medical Association terminated its collaboration agreement with the Norrbotten Region, due to a lack of trust in the regional director.
Now more than 170 doctors at Sunderby Hospital in Luleå go one step further. In an open letter, they sharply criticize the region and demand the resignation of the director.
Severely ill
In addition to the staff shortage affecting cancer patients who have been sent home, multi-sick patients with pneumonia, heart attacks and blood poisoning are also affected who cannot be admitted due to lack of care places, according to Linda Kenttä Finnberg, one of the doctors who signed the letter.
– They stay in the emergency room for one, sometimes two, days – on hard beds without access to food. It is a terrible situation, nothing you want from anyone, she says P4 Norrbotten.
In mid-June, it became clear that Karolinska University Hospital in Solna had signed an agreement with the Norrbotten Region to operate on around 190 cancer patients during the summer. The patients will in most cases fly with scheduled flights to Stockholm, according to a press release from Karolinska.
“Insensitive”
Presenting it as a good solution is insensitive by the regional management, says chief physician Jonas Millgård, who has also signed the letter.
– Sending seriously ill people with cancer, far from home and their social support, is disgusting. That’s awful. It’s not just about surgical technology, it’s about people, he says Norrbottens-Kuriren.