The problem of the so-called building-related ill health at Norrland University Hospital has been recurring for several years, but has moved to different departments. The latest in the line was the Heart Reception where the bad air caused by construction dust even before Christmas began to affect staff and patients, and several of the staff became ill in some way.

Safety representatives should have been questioned by managers

But in connection with last week's media reporting on the problems at the Heart Reception, the Healthcare Association believes that someone from the Heart Reception management should have started to ask their staff group about who contacted the media, which goes against the constitutionally protected freedom of speech that prevails in all public activities.

According to the Health Care Association, one of their safety representatives who expressed their criticism of the working environment problems in the media should also be called up by managers in the region and have been strongly questioned for having been in contact with the press.

"Flattened by ruler techniques"

This autumn, several media outlets in Västerbotten highlighted the problem of the culture of silence in the public sector. A problem that is still big, says the Healthcare Association.

Have you experienced that your members even withdraw to contact the union?

- Yes, they do. They dare not, they have already become so fooled and flattened by hard ruler techniques. This is a very big and very serious problem, ”says Cecilia Jakobsson at the Healthcare Association.

"Everyone has the right to go to the media"

In the case of Cardiac Reception, management believes that the information is not at all correct. They say that they have had a good contact with the head protection officer, and that no one from the management has said that the staff should not contact the media.

- It doesn't feel good, we have freedom of speech and everyone has the right to go to the media. I hope that is not true, says Carina Bäckman, operations manager at the Heart Reception.

Hear more of the criticism and management's response in the clip above.