While doctors in Køge and Roskilde are unhappy about being sent to Falster, doctors in Copenhagen are happy about going to Bornholm: One thing determines the difference

When Region Sjælland and Region Hovedstaden merge into one united region in 2027, politicians face a core challenge: there should be better coverage of hospitals in the outlying areas of Sjælland.

And several candidates already have an idea about how: We should look at Bornholm.

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> Personally, I think it's a really interesting professional challenge.

> Hanne Christensen, doctor on the neurology department at Bispebjerg Hospital

Just like it is difficult to find enough specialists for patients on Lolland and Falster, Bornholm has faced the same problem.

A problem that Region Hovedstaden solves by flying doctors from Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospital across the Baltic Sea weekly, so patients do not have to travel to Copenhagen for treatment.

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Higher salaries and accommodation options

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The arrangement has existed since 2024. And according to Bornholms Hospital, it has made a significant difference in getting the night shift to run smoothly. At the same time, the waiting time for examination and treatment has been reduced for X-rays, scans, and foot-ankle surgery.

In the same way, hope among others Lars Gaardhøj (S), who is the chairman of Region Hovedstaden and the candidate for Region Østdanmark, that the problem with a shortage of doctors at the hospital in Nykøbing Falster can be addressed.

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> It's also part of being a doctor. And so we are some who have to take the flight.

> Hanne Christensen, doctor on the neurology department at Bispebjerg Hospital

- It's a solution that has given good results, and which we should expand, so that patients can be treated closer to their homes, he says.

And he is far from the only one who thinks so. Also Venstre's candidate Camilla Hove Lund thinks that one should be inspired by the partnership solution on Bornholm.

The doctors who travel from Copenhagen to take shifts on Bornholm receive an additional 1000 DKK per shift in salary. In addition, they receive pay for the two times two hours it takes to travel to the island. If they have multiple shifts in a row, accommodation options are also made available.

And these advantages should be further developed, thinks Camilla Hove Lund.

- I hope that we can make it attractive for employees to move, she says.

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An exciting, professional challenge

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Hanne Christensen is a doctor on the neurology department at Bispebjerg Hospital, and she sits every other week in a plane to Rønne.

And she does so with pleasure, it sounds like.

- I personally think it's a really exciting, professional challenge.

- But I do it also because I think there should be proximity and similarity in healthcare. It's also part of being a doctor. And so we are some who have to take the flight, it sounds from Hanne Christensen.

Since 2024, doctors from Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospital have been flown weekly to Bornholm to alleviate the shortage of specialists. Several candidates for Region Østdanmark point to the partnership between the two hospitals as a possible solution to the shortage of specialists on hospitals on Sjælland. (Photo: © Ritzau Scanpix)

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In contrast to the solution on Sjælland

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Hanne Christensen's experience stands in contrast to the dissatisfied doctors at Roskilde and Køge Hospitals, who are currently assigned to take about one shift per month at Nykøbing Falster Hospital. ( https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/politik/kommunalvalg/hjertelaege-fra-roskilde-sendt-paa-arbejde-i-nykoebing-det-er-ikke-med-min-gode-vilje-jeg-skal )

And there is good reason for it, thinks the chairman of the Medical Association, Susanne Wammen.

- The difference is that the doctors who go to Bornholm do it voluntarily, she says.

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> Here they have instead assigned doctors some shifts, without them in any way having had influence on how it should work.

> Susanne Wammen, chairman of the Medical Association

- They have been a part of the process the whole way through. And when they come to Bornholm, they are part of a team, where they know their colleagues and vice versa.

It is not the case for the 94 doctors from Køge and Roskilde, thinks Susanne Wammen.

- Here they have instead been assigned some shifts, without them in any way having had influence on how it should work.

The doctors also have responsibility for solving the shortage of doctors at the hospital in Nykøbing Falster, underscores the chairman of the Medical Association.

- But it should be in a way where one does not just feel like a replacement who fills a hole in a shift plan.

And Hanne Christensen agrees. She could just as well have commuted to Nykøbing Falster instead of Bornholm.

- But it comes down to circumstances. It's important that one feels like a part of the team, and that one has influence on which days it suits with one's private life, it sounds.

Region Østdanmark comes into force from 2027. But voters in the current Regions of Sjælland and Hovedstaden will have to vote for candidates for the new large region on November 18th.

Warning: This article was translated by a Large Language Model, in case of doubt, you can always visit the original source.