Monday February 25 2008
NorwayHospital emergency rooms in an emergency of their ownState health officials are sounding the sirens themselves over a state of emergency in Norwegian hospitals' emergency rooms, where patients face
lengthy delays, inexperienced doctors and often
chaotic organization.
Monica Newman had a
frightening experience at the emergency room in Fredrikstad's hospital. She has filed a formal complaint after
waiting seven hours, even though her own doctor suspected she had a blood clot.
Patients too often have to wait for hours for emergency medical care.The Norwegian Board of Health Supervision (Helsetilsynet) reports that they found violations of state law and regulations at 19 of 27 emergency rooms that they monitored recently.
Only two emergency rooms (called akutt mottak in Norwegian) avoided any serious criticism from the state health regulators.
In some cases, the regulators claim, it was only the heroic efforts of staff on duty that saved lives.
Health authorities monitored care offered at 27 of Norway's 54 emergency rooms.
Patients all too often received inadequate care and treatment."We have uncovered a total picture that shows management deficiencies, which affects both the patients and staff," said Lars E Hanssen, director of Helsetilsynet. "This is totally unacceptable."
In one case, a patient suspected of suffering a stroke was kept waiting six hours and 10 minutes before being treated. In another case, a patient who drifted in and out of consciousness didn't get treatment for nearly four hours.
All too often, reported the regulators, the emergency rooms are staffed by
inexperienced doctors performing their residency requirements, and they often have to wait for back-up from staff doctors to confirm a diagnosis.
The regulators also found inadequate monitoring of patients who hadn't received a diagnosis, and that there were no clear procedures to determine which patients should receive priority.
Hanssen is demanding that
the state, which owns Norwegian hospitals, and hospital administrators "roll up their sleeves" and improve working conditions and procedures in the emergency rooms. "They're operating with a level of risk that's much too high," he said. "They have to start caring about what's happening in the emergency rooms."
http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article2275900.ece
