The municipalities in Sörmland bear witness to a tough situation in terms of personnel during the past weekends and now they are preparing for the thirteen-day weekend, which is considered to be the toughest of the year in healthcare.

Nyköping

, with 470 users in the municipal nursing homes, the situation has been stressful over the Christmas weekend and even more stressful over the New Year's weekend.

- Caregivers are well vaccinated so they don't get so sick anymore.

It is the staff absence that is the tough part now and I feel that more of the staff are staying at home longer, says Mattias Carlsson, head of operations for elderly care in Nyköping municipality.

To resolve the situation, the municipality has brought in substitutes and employees have had to work overtime, but no vacations should have been cancelled.

Ahead of the coming Epiphany weekend, the situation looks unchanged.

Panties

- There are many infections and it has affected the business, but it has not been an unsustainable situation.

There are often substitutes to call in and we have not had to cancel any holidays.

For this time of year, it's not an unusual situation, says interim head of health and care Mirna Basic.

Strangnäs

- It has been strained in terms of staffing during Christmas and New Year.

These are cold symptoms and there has been a minor covid outbreak among the staff at a residence.

We have a prioritization system when this happens, so no user has been left without interventions, neither in home care nor in special housing, says Jenny Karlsson, acting director of elder care in Strängnäs municipality.

The municipality has staffed with substitutes and regular staff have taken extra passes, but everyone who would have had a holiday has been given it.

According to the municipality, there should be no indications of a strained situation ahead of the coming weekend.

Eskilstuna

- The situation overall looks good.

During Christmas and New Year, staffing is always fundamentally fragile, but we don't have sick numbers that stand out.

It was a tougher situation at the same time last year, says Frida Söderqvist, acting head of administration for the health and care administration.

On Wednesday, Eskilstuna municipality, in consultation with the county's infection control doctor, decided to introduce mouth protection during the entire work shift in elderly care.

This as a preventive measure that applies until further notice.

Oxelösund

- During the Christmas and New Year holidays there was some sick leave, but the situation was still stable.

We have solved it with substitutes, says Kristina Tercero, head of administration for the elderly care administration.

The situation right now ahead of the coming weekend is judged to be even more stable.

Vineyards

- We have had a lot of sick leave, but I have an incredibly loyal staff who stand up for each other.

Among other things, some vacation days have been cut or people have gone in when they were supposed to be off, says Magnus Lublin, head of care and social care in Vingåker municipality.

According to the municipality, people are now starting to come back and things look better in terms of personnel for the coming weekend.

Katrineholm

- We have been able to manage the situation based on staffing during the Christmas and New Year holidays.

Like the rest of the country, we have had a higher absence of staff for a period based on the various infections that are ongoing.

But we have been able to manage the staffing so that our users receive the interventions they are granted, says Anneli Larsson, director of operations at the health and care administration in Katrineholm municipality.

According to the municipality, the situation looks good ahead of the Epiphany.

Gnesta

- It has been manageable, but certainly there has been a lot of sickness among our employees.

We have solved it with hourly temps or overtime for regular staff, but the vacations have been able to be completed, says Lena Karlsson Leksell, the social manager at Gnesta municipality.

According to the municipality, things have calmed down a bit for the coming weekend and the situation is under control.

SVT Sörmland has also applied to the municipality of Flen without success.

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Pressed disease situation in nursing homes in Sörmland - this is what it looks like in your municipality