Staff Resignations Follow Compensation Changes at capio St Göran Hospital
Nurses at Capio St Göran hospital in Stockholm are resigning following changes to their compensation for inconvenient working hours (OB compensation). The alterations, stemming from a new local collective agreement signed in mid-September after months of negotiation, are impacting approximately 600 nurses.
The hospital, facing financial pressures, has opted to reduce personnel costs. The new agreement maintains the existing scoring system used to calculate OB compensation, but lowers the monetary amounts awarded.
Anna Linder Axheim,a representative from the Healthcare Association and an emergency room nurse at Capio St Göran,described the negotiations as tough. “We have struggled to reduce the cuts the employer wanted to implement. We managed to negotiate the original cuts to one third, but this is a worse compensation for inconvenient working hours, and it’s not something we can accept,” she stated. She also noted significant dissatisfaction among staff, with many feeling undervalued.
The changes are prompting resignations, particularly among night shift nurses. Mitti reported that all eleven night-working nurses in the delivery department are planning to leave their positions,citing the disproportionate impact on those with lower salaries who work extended hours. One nurse told Mitti, “We who already earn the least are most affected even though we work more than others. I will not stay with these conditions.”
Reports indicate a potential income decrease of approximately SEK 4,000 per month for nurses and SEK 2,000 for nurse assistants. While Linder Axheim couldn’t verify the exact figures due to the percentage-based calculation tied to individual schedules, she acknowledged the amount “doesn’t sound unreasonable.”
The Healthcare Association warns that the staff departures could lead to increased workloads and a more strained working environment for remaining nurses. Linder Axheim expressed concern about potential impacts on patient safety, stating, “Fewer people on the floor logically do not sound like something that makes patient safety better. Already today there is a shortage of nurses. If you then remove staff from the floor, it will be strained.”
Hospital HR manager Rigmor Anshelm maintains that the OB compensation at Capio St Göran remains “more favorable than the central collective agreement that exists at other emergency hospitals in the Stockholm region.” She explained that the hospital chose to maintain the scoring system with reduced OB compensation to offer opportunities for work reductions.
Anshelm also stated that the hospital’s compensation levels in the score model have increased with wage development, unlike fixed OB compensation. She told Mitti that no negative effects from the resignations have been observed and that the hospital is “manned to ensure good and patient-safe care.”
Anshelm affirmed that employee concerns are being taken seriously and that the hospital is working with unions to ensure a positive work environment and quality patient care. She declined to comment to Expressen on whether doctors are also affected by personnel cost reductions or how the hospital views the criticism.