Norwegian hospital leaders go to Denmark to learn – Specialist health service
Bård Hoksrud in the Progress Party
Photo: Julie Kalveland
The meeting will take place in Copenhagen from 24 to 25 October, shows the programme, which Dagens Medisin has seen. In Denmark, the hospitals are governed by the five regions. It is the region that hosts the visit.
– We see that the five regions in Denmark have the same challenges as we have in Norway, says Inger Cathrine Bryne to Dagens Medisin.
Bryne is the managing director of Helse Vest, and packs up his best offers and puts his nose to the sea at the end of the month.
It is the Norwegian directors who have taken the initiative to visit to “share experiences, discuss and learn”, says Bryne.
– We managers also need that.
Want to learn about using experts
During the stay, the directors will, among other things, meet directors at Rigshospitalet, representatives from the Danish Ministry of Health and hear about the Danish Medical Council, which makes recommendations on the introduction of new pharmaceuticals.
Recently, the Norwegian RHF directors delivered a report on how the Norwegian system for the introduction of new methods, including pharmaceuticals, can be improved. One of the points on the list is for common professionals to a greater extent early in the process. How this can be done in the best possible way, no directors can ask.
– We hear from Denmark that they sometimes struggle to make the system work well and ensure that the specialist expertise is available – without exhausting people. It is important to find the right balance, to use specialist expertise in a good way. This is something we want to hear more about, says Bryne.
She points out that the task will have different scope for different subject groups.
– The oncology community will have a big task, for others it will be a small task. It will be important not to overburden and ensure that you have a large number of subject experts and distribute the responsibilities – at the same time that the professional environment has a common understanding of the problem and the advice that is given.
Ask for a Danish model
At the beginning of April in the Fremskrittspartiet on a total reorganization of the system for assessing new pharmaceuticals. The party asked the government to look at Denmark’s model for approval, and pointed out, among other things, that the Danish Medical Council consists of 16 members and four observers. The FRP did not get the Storting on board with the proposal.
One of the changes New methods must introduce as part of the improvement work is that the pharmaceutical companies themselves must report cases to the system instead of the Norwegian Medicines Agency having to make method alerts. This is how it works in the Danish Medical Council.
– When you go on this trip, does that mean you want to change the system and make it the same as in Denmark?
– No. If I have been correctly informed, Denmark has already introduced method assessments [metodevurderinger ligger til grunn for vurderinger i Nye metoder. Journ.anm.]. I understand that they look to us and we look to them. It’s not that big of a difference. We have just structured the work a little differently.
Bryne states that the RHF directors took the initiative for the trip in April.
Four focus areas
The trip to Denmark is not just about new medicines, Bryne treats.
– This is not the trip to look at the Medical Council’s work alone. We must find out where we have great potential to gain further momentum in the work. We are also strengthening Nordic cooperation in several areas, both by discussing new methods and other procurement processes, she says.
These are special fire areas that the hospital leaders have wanted to address with Danish colleagues:
Mental healthcare, patient safety, value-based financing and digital healthcare.
– Within mental healthcare, we see that Denmark has the same challenges as Norway. It is a growing necessity, especially among young people. They have the same discussions about causes and right measures that we have.
There are also great similarities between the countries in terms of patient safety, Bryne believes.
The concept of “value-based financing” is also on the agenda.
– We are interested in hearing what this means and what it means for the hospitals. It is not certain that it is something we will take home with us, but we want to hear more about it to discuss what it is wise to do in the future.
The directors will also get a presentation of experiences with the «Health Platform», the Danish opposite to the Health Platform. In addition to this, the RHF directors must also be given tours of the new building.
– Hope it will provide faster access
FRP’s health policy spokesperson Bård Hoksrud is positive about the directors’ trip to Denmark.
– I achieve they really get something, he says to Dagens Medisin.
– I see that they say that they do not think that it is something in what we brought up in April, but I think that it is probably connected. And I saw that this gives us faster access to medicines than we have today.