Rana municipality has a population of just over 26,000. Almost every fourth inhabitant – 6277 people – is currently without a GP.
The municipal superintendent acknowledges that this is an undesirable and unfortunate situation.
– Rana municipality has had problems recruiting for vacant GPs since 2015. In the period 2015-2019, many more doctors left than we were able to recruit, explains Frode Berg, municipal chief physician in Rana municipality.
– STRUGGLING WITH COVERAGE: Municipal chief physician in Rana municipality, Frode Berg, is not happy with the situation. Photo: Rana municipality
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At the beginning of 2022, there will be a total of 134 municipalities that will not be able to secure a GP for all residents. This according to figures from Helfo.
In the remaining 222 municipalities, there will be full GP coverage.
Check the situation in your own municipality in the overview later in the article.
Ingen «quick fix»
In order to slow down the development, Rana municipality has in recent years focused on strengthening the financial conditions for both retaining and attracting GPs. The municipality has managed to reduce the number of vacant medical licenses from nine to six.
– There is no “quick fix” to save the GP scheme. One must rig the system so that it is possible to combine the GP duties with a normal life, Berg believes.
Although it is the municipalities’ responsibility to ensure that the inhabitants have a GP, the state is an important player. If the crisis is to be resolved, some action must be taken, according to Berg:
He believes that either GPs must be relieved of some of the tasks they have today, or that many more GPs are needed.
– If you want to get many more GPs, then these must be recruited from one place, and if you want to be able to recruit for the GP scheme, you have to do something about the working conditions and conditions, Berg explains.
The problem is that over time, GPs have been overloaded with constantly new tasks to relieve other parts of the health care system. According to the Norwegian Medical Association without this being sufficiently financially compensated.
Everyone has a GP in Ullensvang
Just over 17 hours by car south of Rana municipality, the GP situation is more positive.
– Nice that you focus on a GP scheme in need, says municipal chief physician Daniela G. Brühl in Ullensvang municipality.
She smiles broadly for her own part, because here there are zero patients without a GP. At the same time, she points out that the GP crisis could and should have been averted a long time ago.
– FULL COVERAGE: In Ullensvang municipality, all residents have a GP. Municipal chief physician Daniela G. Brühl is very pleased with this. Photo: E. Emmerhoff
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– There has long been a crisis in the scheme, but it is only now that ordinary people in the big cities also feel it on their own body, says Brühl who is also a specialist in community medicine.
In Ullensvang municipality, all inhabitants have a GP.
Investing in a fixed salary for doctors, Brühl believes is an important reason for success.
– Why is it important to ensure the citizens the statutory right they have to a GP?
– In a Norwegian study published in the British Journal of General Practice, it has been discovered that patients who have gone to the same GP for a long time have a 25 percent lower risk of death.
Brühl also says that patients with a GP are less likely to go to the emergency room and be admitted to hospital than patients who have only had the same GP for one year or less.
– It shows the importance of a stable GP scheme in the municipality from a public health perspective, the municipal chief explains.
TV 2 has previously mentioned this studies.
Government party-led municipalities
It is the municipalities that have the overall responsibility for providing necessary health and care services to those who stay in the municipality, and the GP scheme is part of this responsibility.
17 of the 20 municipalities that have the most inhabitants without a GP are governed by the Labor Party (14 municipalities) and the Socialist People’s Party (3 municipalities).
On the top 20 list of municipalities with the most inhabitants without a GP, there are three municipalities with a Conservative mayor.
In Malvik municipality, the home municipality of Minister of Health Ingvild Kjerkol, all residents have, according to Helfo, a GP.
The crisis continues
An action plan has been prepared for 2020-2024 which will strengthen the GP scheme. But in a follow-up report from the Norwegian Directorate of Health last autumn, it is stated that the negative development continues:
«Both state administrators, ALIS offices and municipalities report a worrying situation where the large municipalities are also struggling more and more. The staffing challenges increasingly also affect the general practitioner service outside the GP scheme, and many are struggling with the capacity to staff emergency services. It is more difficult to get substitute doctors, and there is increasingly competition between municipalities for doctors. The lack of specialists means that in several municipalities there are not enough supervisors for general practitioners in specialization. “
Although nationally there is a small increase in the number of GPs after the launch of the action plan, this is far from enough to cover the need when the list length is reduced and the population grows, the report concludes.
“Weakened accessibility and lack of exchange possibilities limit the inhabitants’ GP rights, and more and more municipalities are finding it difficult to offer a permanent doctor to their inhabitants.”
Many of today’s experienced GPs, who often serve the longest lists, will reach retirement age in the next few years. According to the report, a worsening of the situation is therefore expected.
Below you will find the municipalities in Norway that as of 1.1.2022 had inhabitants without a GP. According to Helfo, the municipalities that are not included in the overview must have full GP coverage.
Tell us if you are without a GP, but live in a municipality that states that everyone has a GP.
Tips to: [email protected]
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