“We love our work, but this is no longer possible and we have been trying for a long time to make management understand!!”
This is what was stated in a letter to the district, which one nurse described as a cry for help.
She believes the workload is too high and employees sometimes work 24 hours straight. Salaries in the department are also described as low compared to other departments.
– Those who work there really care about their work and the children they help, but they feel that the workload is too heavy, says Pia Malmqvist, acting director of pediatric surgery at Skane University Hospital.
Pediatric surgeries are performed in other locations
According to the region, 13 nurses out of 20 resigned, and will end their services on August 31 of this year. Skåne Region is currently working on a plan on how to deal with the situation.
Lund is, along with Stockholm, Gothenburg and Uppsala, one of the four Swedish centers for highly specialized pediatric surgery, and even today patients are sent between hospitals.
With fewer employees in Lund, this number may rise.
– This can affect patients in such a way that they may need to go elsewhere, says Pia Malmqvist.
Long term problems
Problems at the pediatric surgery in Lund have persisted for a long time, and last summer the Swedish Work Environment Authority found that staff showed symptoms that could be attributed to the workload. It also turned out that officials did not take adequate measures to deal with him.
Need to be more
Pia Malmqvist says there should already be more nurses in the workplace to cope with the high workload.
The district still hopes it can convince the nurses who resigned to stay.
-We will have conversations with employees, invest in finding sustainable schedules and together we will find ways to reduce the workload.
SVT Nyheter Skåne has been in contact with Vårdförbundet, which confirms the information but none of the 13 nurses want to come for the interview.
This is how a protection officer described the situation last year:
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