- I feel a great deal of anxiety and stress for our patients with suspected colon cancer, says a doctor who wishes to remain anonymous to SVT Nyheter Skåne.
Patients who were to be examined within four weeks are today forced to wait four months for an examination in Malmö.
Bowel cancer patients have to wait four to five weeks for a diagnosis that they would have received within ten days, according to information to SVT.
Must build own system
The American medical record system from Cerner, which Region Skåne has purchased for a maximum value of almost SEK 5 billion, lacks advanced functions for endoscopy, something that is contrary to Swedish and international guidelines, according to several doctors.
Endoscopy is a type of examination that involves looking into the body, for example in the intestines or stomach, using an endoscope, a kind of tube.
Image of a polyp in the colon from an endoscopic examination.
Photo: The endoscopy clinic, SUS in Malmö
The staff at the endoscopy clinic at SUS in Malmö may not connect their current documentation system to the new medical record system, but this summer have been asked to build a new system that can fit in with Cerners.
A colonoscope is used in endoscopic examinations and can, for example, send images from the inside of the colon.
Photo: Olympus
Growing care debt
The endoscopy doctors have for over two years tried to get a hearing for their views and concerns but do not feel that the region has listened.
Meanwhile, the cancer queues have become longer and longer.
- The region has purchased a system that does not meet the functional requirements we have in endoscopy.
We think they bought the "pig in the sack".
We fear that they made gigantic mistakes in the procurement, says the doctor who wishes to remain anonymous.
"A big concern"
Gabriele Wurm Johansson, chief physician in charge of the unit at the endoscopy clinic at SUS in Malmö, confirms the problems and believes that resources taken from the clinical activities lead to growing care queues.
"There is a great concern for patient safety when doctors need to set aside time and work with assignments other than the core business," she writes in an email to SVT Nyheter Skåne.
She continues: "The decision that we ourselves will build a new system was not anchored or discussed with the profession in the procurement."
SVT Nyheter Skåne has sought Region Skåne for a comment for almost a week.
Officials in the region have promised to return with a comment on Monday.