– The infection is rising very sharply now, and we are noticing that more and more staff are ill or sent home because they are awaiting test results. We also notice that the hospitals discharge the citizens even faster for treatment and care in the municipalities.
– At the same time, the municipalities must deliver what we have been used to throughout the autumn. It can not go on, he says.
Among other things, the emergency ordinances provide an opportunity to prioritize staff for citizens with the greatest need. This can be done, for example, by cutting back on the amount of cleaning, rehabilitation and other activities that are not about keeping the infection down.
The regions in control of the hospitals are allowed to prioritize by cutting off planned operations, and the municipalities want the same right. This is what Helsingør Municipality’s mayor, Benedikte Kiær (K), says.
– It will mean a lot that we are allowed to prioritize, just like the hospitals can by canceling operations.
– It is just like in the spring that you can ensure that the care for care that our elderly citizens need is present, she says to Ritzau.
She specifically mentions cleaning and rehabilitation as areas that can be temporarily downgraded. The same goes for other features that are not related to coronavirus.
The municipalities were given the opportunity in the spring, but here there was no need to use the executive order, says Benedikte Kiær.
– We are in a situation now where it may be necessary in a few days, she says.
By introducing emergency executive orders for the other welfare areas, it will also be possible to enter into agreements with employees that they can relieve in the elderly area, where the pressure right now is very great, says Jacob Bundsgaard.
– We must both keep the corona infection away from the elderly sector, and we must be able to ensure that the elderly who need it can continue to receive care. We must also be able to ensure that the municipal health services that are critical are maintained.
– It is, for example, the home nurse who provides vital medicine, care of dying patients in their own home and insulin for diabetic patients. Therefore, the municipalities need to be able to prioritize the staff, says the KL chairman.
Source: The Nordic Page