The Ministry of Health, with the advice of the Director of Health, has set up a new response team for emergency medical services. The National Hospital Expert Council has issued a statement expressing serious concern about staffing.
According to the Ministry of Health’s notice, the Ministry of Health, the Department of Health, Icelandic Health Insurance, regional health institutions, and overtime medical clinics in the metropolitan area have formed a response team for emergency medical services in Iceland.
The reason is a serious situation within the ambulance crew, although the notice states that the reason for this situation is complicated, the dominant factors are the shortage of trained medical professionals and the elderly, disability. Lack of resources for people and other sensitive demographics.
Action plans include coordinating behavior and closer cooperation within healthcare institutions, increasing support for home nursing in the metropolitan area, and increasing services in national hospital emergency wards and larger facilities.
The response team also plans to strengthen the operations of regional healthcare institutions in the Ray Cannes Peninsula, Western Iceland, and Southern Iceland by supporting test results with national hospitals. Processes within the national hospital have been improved to reduce the time patients spend in the emergency ward, and part of the project is to review treatment procedures for elderly care and increase other specialized services for patients in the emergency ward. is.
This notice, issued following the National Hospital Expert Council, expressed serious concern about hospital staffing issues. The council said almost all occupations in the hospital were understaffed, which adversely affected hospital services and threatened the safety of patients and staff. Authorities were asked to assist national hospitals to ensure better service.
Már Kristjánsson, head of the emergency ward at the National Hospital, welcomed the new response team and told VÃsir that such extensive consultations between health service providers was a novel approach. However, the situation in the emergency ward was still serious and the entire healthcare system needed a thorough overhaul before it could be funded.
According to Ma, the root of the problem is the lack of planning. Too many people are looking for a mild illness that can be waited for in the emergency ward, but others are stuck in the emergency ward or in a ward that should be in a rehab or nursing home. “The lack of organization in the national hospital led to people seeking service in the wrong part of the system, and we couldn’t take them to the right place,” Már told VÃsir.
Improving organization and management is one of the main goals of the new response team, but increasing funding for hospitals was also discussed. Ma states that improving the organization is a priority. “I think we need to maximize output in our current system and then understand what needs to be improved in terms of funding.”
