Health care inequalities between urban and rural Denmark have plagued the country’s politicians for years. A new decision to force doctors near Copenhagen to work far from home has left doctors and unions disappointed.
By Martine M. Christensen & Gabriel Lemark
In April Region Zealand ordered 94 doctors, working at hospitals in the cities Roskilde and Køge in the greater Copenhagen area, to take shifts at the Zealand University Hospital in Nykøbing Falster, 130 kilometers south of the capital.
The decision was made by the regional political instance responsible for health care in Zealand, due to a shortage of doctors.
The decision means that doctors living in the Copenhagen area will have a 3 hour drive to and from the hospital in Nykøbing Falster. This is met with frustration from Anne Poulsen, who represents The Senior Physician Association at the Zealand University Hospital in Roskilde.
“We have tried to have a dialogue with Region Zealand but it has fallen on deaf ears,” she says.
Acknowledges the problem
Wendy Sophie Schou is the chairperson of Junior Doctors Denmark, a union focusing on the interests of young doctors. After the decision has been made she thinks that the union should approach it in a positive way and focus on how to make it as tolerable for their members as possible.
“I completely acknowledge that there’s a problem. We do not have equal access to especially senior physicians in Denmark, and we need to solve this. But I’m sad we couldn’t do this voluntarily,” she says.
Medical gaps
Over the last century Denmark has seen a growing economic and demographic gap between the smaller municipalities, while bigger cities such as Aarhus and capital city Copenhagen have been growing. This has left the health care sector in some smaller municipalities struggling to find doctors and other medical staff, a problem worsened by an aging population in these areas.
A new health care reform by the government aimed at distributing economical and staff related resources within the country was decided on last year. A temporary law related to the reform has been put in place during the first half of this year. The law prohibits opening up new health care clinics in Denmark’s 98 municipalities except for 17 specific ones, who are in desperate need for more medical coverage.
“A waste of time”
As Junior Doctors Denmark and The Senior Physician Association are two different organisations with different agreements, they have different advantages resulting in the Junior Doctors Denmark being compensated for the hours they spend in the car on their way to work. They won’t be able to work as many hours at the hospital either, as the driving time is counted as work, whereas for members of The Chief Senior Physician Association it doesn’t count as work and they don’t receive compensation for the first hour they drive per day.
“I think it’s a bit of a waste of time that the specialist doctors have to spend their working hours driving around,” says Wendy Sophie Schou.
Reactions
Anne Poulsen says that the reactions she has seen from members of The Senior Physician Association are anger and disbelief. She fears that this decision risks tearing departments apart, and that well-functioning medical teams in Roskilde could be affected by a lack of doctors who will now have to take extra shifts in Nykøbing Falster. They also fear that medical teams in Nykøbing Falster may have difficulties collaborating due to sporadic visits from these doctors.
“We want to help them, but it has to be done properly. It’s not just about salary. If you want a continuously good solution you need to have the foundations both at the job and outside the job,” says Poulsen.
More incentives
In order to avoid forced workplace moves both Wendy Sophie Schou and Anne Poulsen wish for more incentives outside of the work in the smaller municipalities in order to attract doctors.
“Municipalities need to show them that there are good daycares, good schools, and job possibilities for your spouse. All these things also play a part in where you see yourself as a doctor, because we have a whole new generation coming up where their priorities are not 100 percent their job anymore,” says Schou.
Uncertainty
Specifically, which 94 doctors who will now have to take extra shifts are still uncertain. The doctors will start taking shifts in August, but it is not yet clear how often the trip to Nykøbing Falster will take place.
Mediajungle has reached out to Region Zealand for a comment. They have not replied.
In a previous statement to DR they’ve said that this is the first time that so many doctors have been notified to work elsewhere in the region, as it has not been possible to persuade the doctors to Nykøbing Falster voluntarily, and therefore it will now be forced. The region states that the many extra doctors in Nykøbing Falster will both mean that the quality of treatment and the professional environments will be strengthened.
This article’s target audience is people with a habit of news consumption and an interest in European politics and society. It could be published in Politico, Le Monde or Euronews.