The Medical Association requires action to save GP scheme
The Norwegian Medical Association requires the authorities to act immediately to rescue the GP scheme (fastlegeordningen).
– We require immediate action. There is no time to lose, says President Marit Hermansen after the Norwegian Medical Association’s General Assembly adapted a resolution regarding the crisis in the GP scheme.
Half of the country’s municipalities are having difficulty recruiting GPs to the scheme, and ten of the country’s largest municipalities report that the situation has deteriorated significantly since last year.
The main reason for the crisis is that the doctors in the scheme have an increasingly long and demanding work day. The Directorate of Health’s survey shows that the average for GPs is 55.6 hours a week and 10 per cent work more than 75 hours. Half do not believe that they are still in the scheme five years from now.
At the General Assembly, a resolution on the crisis was unanimously adopted by the 148 delegates.
– The resolution that the General Assembly has adopted sends a clear signal. The situation can not be solved without a better framework and more GPs in the scheme. The challenges requires immediate action, says Hermansen.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
