The eating disorder clinic used money for research instead of care

According to the audit commissioned by the Stockholm Psychiatric Unit, at least SEK 9 million has been used to finance research and development work during the period 2015 - 2018. This corresponds to approximately 4.5 to 5.5 full-time services per year, or approximately 450 new patients who could be treated annually.

Thus, during this four-year period, approximately 1,800 patients could have been treated, the reviewer says.

The report shows that Stockholm's Center for Eating Disorders has an unclear limit on how money is distributed between healthcare and research. Therefore, management and organization should be reviewed it stands.

Criticism is also directed at the long waiting times for treatment. The reviewers believe that the queues for SCÄ's admissions pose a serious patient safety risk since they have increased significantly from mid-2018.

In March 2019, the average wait time for a first visit was 10 weeks for children and 27 weeks for adults. Seriously ill patients have to wait longer than the statutory care guarantee promises, some patients have instead had to seek emergency care instead.

SVT has spoken with Anna-Maria af Sandeberg, physician and former head of operations at SCÄ. She believes the information in the report is disturbing.

- This means that patients have not received care to the extent that they should have received, but it does mean that you put a kind of research competition out of play as well. Others may seek funding, SCÄ has, when not fully covered, used health care money, she says.

She believes that the care could have done more for the patients if the care money had been used properly.

- I just had a patient where I work now, who told me she had sought care at SCÄ and was told that it would take about a year. I think that is outrageous.

However, it is not possible to say that the long queues are merely due to the research activity having had a displacement effect, but several factors may be behind the situation.

SVT has sought Yvonne von Hauswolff-Juhlin, who is both Head of Operations and Head of Research at SCA and affiliated with the Karolinska Institute. But she does not want to comment. Neither does Elisabeth Welch, who is the unit manager at the Research and Development Unit (R&D).