Crisis meeting called over hospitals

Health Minister Anne-Grethe Strøm-Erichsen called in those responsible for the administration of Oslo’s largest hospitals early Friday morning, after another week of conflict pegged to their massive reorganization. Serious concerns continue to be raised about the consequences of the reorganization on patient care. The “extraordinary” meeting was called after representatives of all the professional organizations [...]

Hospital conflict level rises

An ongoing conflict over the massive reorganization of Oslo’s largest hospitals has intensified, after the employee representatives of several organizations for health care workers said they had no confidence in the leader of the state agency in charge. “Bente Mikkelsen, leader of Helse Sør-Øst, no longer has any credibility,” was the message this week from [...]

New report slams hospital care

Patients get lost in the system, aren’t called in for important check-ups, face treatment delays and don’t get the information they need about their condition. These are some of the conclusions in a scathing new report on hospitals in southeastern Norway. The report, conducted by auditors for Helse Sør-Øst, the state administrative agency in charge [...]

Hospital error ‘unacceptable’

Opposition politicians are once again hammering the left-center government’s health care policies, after hearing the story about a hospital in Oslo that forgot to call in a nine-year-old cancer patient for important monitoring of his condition. They called his resulting wait “completely unacceptable.” “It’s been a year since I asked the health minister to come [...]

Compensation for LSD treatment

A 67-year-old woman is believed to have become the first Norwegian to receive compensation for the ongoing ill effects she has suffered for nearly 40 years after being treated with the hallucinogenic drug LSD in the 1960s. Newspaper Aftenposten reported that Gerd Knutsen has received NOK 200,000 (USD 36,000) after health officials determined there is [...]

Parents plan for kindergarten places

Evidence increasingly suggests that parents are planning pregnancies in order to have children before September 1 to ensure that they receive legally guaranteed places in Norwegian kindergartens. Children born before September 1 are legally guaranteed a place at a local kindergarten for the next year, whereas those born afterwards sometimes have to wait two years [...]

Part of Sellafield nuclear plant closes

Part of the British nuclear energy plant Sellafield is to be closed down as a consequence of the after-effects of the Fukushima incident in Japan earlier this year. Although 600 British jobs were lost, many organizations in Norway have welcomed the move given concerns about the carriage of nuclear waste from the plant by ocean [...]

‘Adecco scandal’ costs firm millions

Human resources firm Adecco has reported a deficit of NOK 25.3 million (USD 4.7 million) for the last financial year following the effects of the revelations of illegal practices at its nursing homes and other operations. The scandal began with revelations by Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) that employees at the firm’s Ammerudlunden nursing home in Oslo [...]

Research claims alcoholism is genetic

A joint Norwegian-American report claims that 71 percent of alcoholics have inherited the condition genetically, a far higher total than expected or previously put forward. The results of the project, which comes from cooperation between Virginia Commonwealth University and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, contradict previous findings that suggested genetic causes lay behind half [...]

‘Illegal’ cancer delays at Oslo hospital

Women with breast lumps are waiting up to three months for an examination at Ullevål University Hospital in Oslo, despite laws guaranteeing patients a maximum wait of two weeks. The delays in treatment are “completely unacceptable,” claimed politicians and cancer organizations. More than 90 women in the capital with potentially malignant lumps are currently enduring [...]

Adecco to pay millions back to Oslo

Recruitment and human resources firm Adecco has been asked to pay NOK 23.7 million (USD 4.4 million) back to the City of Oslo after a scandal regarding working conditions at state nursing homes run under contract by the company. Adecco’s health division, Adecco Helse, had their contracts in Oslo and many other parts of Norway [...]

Oslo biotech firms on a roll

Oslo’s thriving cancer research and biotech community was enjoying international attention this week, after one firm could confirm good results with a new treatment for prostate cancer and another was tackling tumors successfully with its new treatment. Norwegian newspapers featured lengthy articles on both the research firms Algeta and PCI Biotech. Algeta saw its share [...]

Health minister rejects ‘crisis’ claims

Norway’s largest hospitals in the nation’s capital aren’t the only ones facing severe budget problems that many are calling a “crisis.” Health Minister Anne-Grete Strøm-Erichsen, though, is resisting pressure to address alleged funding shortfalls after more hospital administrators claim they can’t meet budget demands. Strøm-Erichsen won’t go along with the “crisis” claims and called on [...]

Hospital boss quits after cuts

Siri Hatlen confirmed on Monday that she’s quitting as managing director of Norway’s largest hospital, Oslo University Hospital, after the hospital’s board demanded cost cuts amounting to around NOK 500 million a year. Hatlen had claimed only half that amount could be tolerated without adverse effects on patient care. Speculation had been flying since last [...]

Hospital budget cut to the bone

As feared last week, the board of the Oslo hospitals forming the newly merged Oslo University Hospital ordered administrators to make huge cost cuts to avoid a budget shortfall of NOK 500 million (USD 90 million). The cuts may mean hundreds of staff layoffs. Hospital administrator Siri Hatlen had presented a budget with cuts amounting [...]

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