The Norrbotten region has previously agreed that operations and other care will be purchased for half a billion kronor and the new care guarantee unit will take care of the practical administration to shorten the queues.
High hopes for unity
Division manager Per Berglund has high hopes for the new unit.
- There are so many patients who have had their care postponed that we need to strengthen our ability to help them further to, for example, operations at another care provider in the county, the country and even abroad if that opportunity exists.
We will work full time ourselves, but it is also about getting help from private contractors, he says.
7,000 are waiting for operations
Today, about 4,500 Norrbotten residents are in the operating queues for the county's hospital, and in addition, the region estimates that many are also waiting their turn at the specialist clinics.
- It is a hidden queue that we estimate at approximately 2,700 people, says Per Berglund.
This means that just over 7,000 Norrbotten residents are waiting for an operation.
- What is positive is that the gender is no longer growing, but it has started to stop and it is even shrinking a little, says Per Berglund.