We got to see how to disinfect a cold bed.

It was March 2020 and the infection nurse explained that the bed was needed for the next covid patient.  

Last spring, me and photographer Emil Larsson made the documentary Stories from the front line.

We were at the infection clinic at the University Hospital in Uppsala and were to portray the pandemic from the inside.

I did not understand why the bed was cold.

But the staff said that it had just been in the cold room with a patient who had died.

The pressure was so strong that the patients stood in line.

It's worse now than then

Nationally, the number of covid patients was more then.

But still, the proportion of vacancies is fewer today.

On some days, several of the regions have had less than ten percent spare capacity.

This means a vacancy if the department has ten in total.

One year ago, the health service managed to open just over 1,100 intensive care units in Sweden.

Right now there are just under 800 and therefore the margins are smaller.

The equipment to open as many places as last year is available, but it is more difficult to solve the personnel situation.

The explanation from the experts

When I talk to healthcare staff, several describe that they experience the situation as more pressured now than last year.

And the explanations that recur are:

  • The care queues have grown so much that operations must begin to be carried out.

    This means that covid care cannot borrow the same amount of staff from other departments.

  • Several testify that the number of sick leaves and redundancies among the staff has increased - this increases the pressure on those who remain.

  • A year of pandemic has left its mark, many have worked much harder than usual.

Summer 2021

Recently, the government declared that the restrictions will be eased until the first of June if the spread of infection so allows.

A much awaited message for many.

But at the same time, the concern is great.

Recently, I had a conversation with a person with very good insight into the national situation in healthcare.

"It is a nightmare for us if the restrictions ease and the pressure increases again," he said.