With 40 million kroner of state funding at issue politicians are facing the decision of more hospital unit closures
Intense political negotiations over the nation’s hospital system have pit usual ally parties against one another, as the proposed plan for the Capital Health Region includes several departmental closures, reports Berlingske Tidende newspaper.
Talks have been heated over the plan, where the Conservatives and Danish People’s Party have left the negotiations, standing fast in their positions against any further facility closures.
But most parties at the local level are, if not supporting the closures, preferring them over inevitable firing rounds. Nearly 1,000 employees at several hospitals in Greater Copenhagen have been laid off since the start of the year.
According to the current plan being proposed, hospitals in Helsingør, Frederikssund and Frederiksberg are facing closure of at least some of their units, including emergency rooms and acute admissions. In addition, the psychiatric unit at Roskilde will be closed and Hørsholm Hospital may be sold for privatisation.
Several area hospitals are already facing closure in the wake of the region’s ‘super-hospital’ plan, which aims to centralise specific units and medical specialists. In December, Frederiksberg Hospital’s maternity ward was also closed.
Per Tærsbøl, spokesman for the Conservatives, said his party would not support any closures at least until the new hospital planned for Hillerød is completed.
Johannes Hecht-Nielsen, Helsingør’s mayor, said that the planned closures are certain to be unpopular within his constituency.
‘On the other hand I can see the need to consolidate specialists at the larger hospitals. But as long as we can keep our emergency room, then the plan’s good enough for me,’ he said.
Although no final decision or draft has yet been agreed upon, the proposal looks to have a majority behind it among regional politicians.
Vibeke Storm Rasmussen, chairwoman for the Capital Region, said that in order to receive state funding of 40 million kroner the region has to abide by the government’s requirements, which includes the contested cutbacks.
The new hospital plan is scheduled to be implemented 1 June and will outline the upcoming hospital structure up through 2020.
The Copenhagen Post
