Aleris now treats twice as many patients as last year – NRK Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio

Then Wenche Eriksen learned that she had to wait almost a month for an appointment at Stavanger University Hospital (SUS), she had enough.

She booked an appointment with Aleris, knowing that the trip would cost her at least NOK 7,500.

– It stressed me so much that I think I got worse just by waiting, says Eriksen, who came to Aleris with chest pains.

She is far from the only one who has found her way into the doors of Aleris in Stavanger.

Managing director Anita Tunold expects to receive around 60,000 patients in Stavanger this year. This is a doubling from last year.

– This is our hospital that is growing the most. It is connected with the record-long waiting times in the public health service, says Tunold.

The growth occurs despite the fact that Helse Vest terminated the agreement with Aleris in 2022.

Read also: A change in the law has led to a sharp increase in the use of reverse violence alarms

Could accommodate twice as many – get a cash response

For patient Wenche Eriksen, it was not appropriate to go into uncertainty with the chest pain, even though she knew it would cost her to go to Aleris.

At Aleris there was no waiting time. If we are to believe director Tunold, the private hospital could receive twice as many patients as today.

I don’t buy that claim Helse Vest’s specialist director Bjørn Egil Vikse.

– What we experience to some extent is that they brag about their capacity by using health personnel who also work in our public enterprises, says Vikse.

The specialist director stands by the decision to terminate the agreement with Aleris, despite the queues in the public health service.

– We want to prioritize our own hospitals to a greater extent. We work well to reduce waiting times in our public hospitals, says Vikse.

Read also: The unnecessary examinations

Red and FRP in a clinch: – Ban it

In 2023, the Hospital Committee pointed out that larger healthcare queues, increased willingness to pay and more examinations of healthy patients could be reasons why more people chose private services. This could limit access to healthcare personnel in the public sector, the committee concluded.

Stavanger Frp leader Kristoffer Sivertsen welcomes the emergence of private offers.

– Now we must use all our best efforts to reduce the rapidly growing health care queues. This government is about to set a Norwegian record for downsizing the healthcare system and at the same time building up the healthcare queues, says Sivertsen.

Rødt’s parliamentary representative Mímir Kristjánsson believes that the good forces in this context are the health personnel, and not Aleris. He believes the solution must be to strengthen the public health system.

– Now we have a two-part system with a regular queue and a VIP queue modeled after nightlife, says Kristjánsson.

– Do you want to close Aleris?

– I think we should tighten up. It is both about funding, but also recruitment. In the last resort, it is only possible to ban it, says Kristjánsson.

FRP-Sivertsen believes Rødt is engaging in fairy-tale storytelling.

– We see that when the public sector has to do more and more, and the private sector less, then people queue up, says Sivertsen and continues:
– People are in pain, and do not get the operations they need. Why shouldn’t we just help people, asks Sivertsen.

Kristjansson believes that the build-up of the private sector contributes to draining the public healthcare system.

– For society, this is a solution that is equivalent to peeing your pants to keep warm, because you are undermining the public sector all the way, says the Rødt profile.

Read also: Hilde warned when she saw which examination the X-ray giant had chosen