Waiting lists in health care are shorter than before, but there is still a good reason to look into whether the decline really is as large as the numbers show, Prime Minister Erna Solberg acknowledges.
The issue came up during parliamentary question hour on Wednesday. Dagens Medisin has recently uncovered that hospitals since 2013 have moved patients into internal queues so that the official waiting list statistics will look better.
Leader of the Labor party, Jonas Gahr Støre believes this is a serious matter. He referred to statements from Solberg where she claims queues are reduced by 42,000 patients.
– Is she sure these patients actually have started treatment? Or have many of them simply been moved to a queue that is not visible in the official statistics, asked Minister.
Solberg stated unequivocally that the health queues in Norway are decreasing, and added that several indicators show this.
– But we are taking what has been reported seriously. The Directorate of Health will go through the information and check whether some hospitals violate the regulations, said Solberg.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
