Every day added Norwegian hospital patients at a time because departments are full. Worst is Akershus University Hospital (Ahus) with 7,000 patient days in the corridor last year.
– The OECD has this as a maximum limit, it is introduced in England and Bent Høie should urgently get this in place, says Toppe.
The Medical Association believes corridor patients has become a common phenomenon that poses a serious threat to patient safety.
– Anyone can in principle hear what is being said on the corridor. Especially elderly patients will be reluctant to ask the questions they have. Many will feel inconvenienced when they are located on the corridor and see how nurses and doctors runner, says the president of the Association Hege Gjessing.
She believes patients are not getting enough rest, and that both is challenging with wound care and toileting when at best is behind a folding screen in one time. Gjessing also fear that it is too low staffing levels at hospitals.
– Already without overcrowding has little leeway when it comes to staffing. With additional patients getting the staff on duty even more to take care of, she says.
Over recommended soundness limit
In a policy note from the Medical Association, the average occupancy according to SSB currently 93 percent. It is 8 percentage points above the internationally recommended upper limit for soundness.
– We have seen a number of examples of hospitals that over longer periods has over 100 per cent occupancy. Some departments may at times have a coating of up to 120 percent. The public section of number of corridor patients in Norwegian hospitals shows that the challenge must be taken seriously, and that hospitals and regional health authorities must strengthen efforts in both capacity and quality, according to the note.
Kjersti Toppe agree with the NMA in that overcoat goes beyond the quality of treatment.
– This is a non-existent political debate. We accept this, and additionally spoken of the need to lay down beds and lay down hospitals in rural areas, says Toppe.
Ahus tops statistics
According to statistics from SSB tops Ahus with an occupancy of 108 percent.
management at Ahus believes, however, that this is wrong, because statistics do not include “technical beds”, among others places on intensive care units, post-operative, delivery beds and incubators . The other hospitals have different explanations for the figures (see survey).
– There are beds that must be factored into the total number of beds that the hospital control. A calculation without technical beds do not provide an accurate picture of actual overcoat, actually measured corridor lodging provides a more accurate picture, says communications director of Ahus Dagfinn Aanonsen.
He added that the corridor patients is a problem the hospital is aware of, and actively working to reduce.
At Ahus, three percent of the patients placed on corridor last year, equivalent to 7,000 patient days. Where is especially during epidemics that the hospital did not have bed capacity enough in each department.
Kjersti Toppe stated over hospitals’ objection to the numbers.
– OCCUPANCY is something that one researcher and calculates internationally .
No exact science
Health Analyst Terje L. Berstad in Public Mode, however, says that within this area will be numbers that swing.
– This is not and will never be, an exact science. The figures we have is what we have available. The assessments are made on the basis of which must take into account several and significant margins of error. Feedback from Ahus appears to be correct, he said.
Terry L. Berstad think the problem Ahus primarily that hospital capacity in the area was and still is undersized in the strategic planning.
Berstad says many hospitals in big cities has a coating that has long since passed the threshold of international studies define as irresponsible for patient safety and quality of care.
Not satisfied with the situation
Health Minister Bent Høie is not happy with that hospitals put patients at corridor.
– Share corridor patients go down, but we are not satisfied with the situation as it is now. Both Ahus and Stavanger University Hospital have had problems with this for a long time. Stavanger is planning to build a new hospital. Also at Ahus is a need to expand capacity.
Høie says the percentage corridor patients is reduced from 2 to 1.5 per cent from 2011 to 2014, but that the important thing is how to plan capacity, and that some departments withstands a higher occupancy than others. As examples of departments that can not withstand high occupancy, he draws up emergency wards, where patients are very ill and need to be monitored.
Bent Høie do not understand how hospitals should work with an upper limit 85 percent occupancy, so Toppe want.
– Believes Kjersti Toppe that sick people should be denied access to a hospital that has rounded 85 percent? How believes Toppe that such a limit to be practiced in hospitals, asking the Minister of Health.
– You mean you rather endure a coating which is higher than the OECD recommends?
– The main thing is that hospitals can document quality and patient safety. So they must also implement measures to plan and utilize capacity in a good way.
Association concerned
Also, Medical Association is concerned about differences in reporting.
– This strengthens our suspicions that the coating in Norwegian hospitals last year loud, We demand that the government introduces quarterly reporting of occupancy and that hospitals relate to one unified calculation method, says President Hege Gjessing,
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