Strong criticism of the VG region's handling of coronate ester

On Monday, June 1, the general sampling of covid-19 was initiated at all health centers in the Västra Götaland region. The decision had been communicated as late as the Friday before.

Marie Karlsson, biomedical analyst at the microbiological lab at Sahlgrenska was one of those working on Monday. They had not heard from anywhere but through the media that general testing was underway.

- Suddenly late in the afternoon, over a thousand samples came in to be analyzed. The day staff would just finish their passports, but it would stay and start chopping in, she says.

The situation worsened day by day and the work environment and the load became, according to Marie Karlsson, completely unsustainable.

- So you had forgotten to think about the capacity in the lab. You can test the entire population of the world if you want, there are no resources in the lab, so everything falls, she says.

SVT News West meets Marie in a summer cottage outside Strömstad. Then she has been off work for a week, but the job pursues her.

- Both me and my colleagues are finished. I still can't think clearly, she says.

Marie Karlsson has noticed the situation in a submitter in the Gothenburg Post and in her own blog post. But on Friday, she had not heard anything from the regional management.

- Not even a thank you for the effort we have made, she says.

When SVT meets Jan Kilhamn, Chief of Staff Regional Special Healthcare Management within the VG region, he admits to a certain extent what happened. He says that some communication was made with the management of the lab at Sahlgrenska, but he says that no one realized how hard the pressure would be.

- We were surprised ourselves by the great interest in sampling, he says.

He also admits that there has been a break in communication when it comes to showing gratitude to the staff. He also says that you are now learning lessons from what happened and that you believe you will be better prepared when the next big sampling begins - the general antibody tests scheduled for the fall.

Learn more about the situation in the clip above.