Hundreds of Swedish primary care doctors have warned the current government that the state of primary care in the country may in be in peril without serious reforms.
A total of 727 doctors from across the country signed an article that was printed in Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter lamenting the current state of primary care in the country, broadcaster Sveriges Radio reports.
According to the medical professionals, primary medical care faces potential collapse due to there simply not being enough qualified doctors to go around.
“The problem is that we are too few general practitioners, and too few district nurses as well for that matter,” said Magnus Isacson, who works as a general practitioner.
“There are many freelance doctors that are brought in. There is nothing wrong with freelancers but it would be best if we had continuity,” he added.
“We think that a plan should be devised at national level together with the profession, with general practitioners, and ensure that we get the proper recruitment,” he said.
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“In addition, we want there to be time for education because it is a problem. There has been less and less time for education in recent years. If we can not read and keep up with the latest, because it is updated all the time, then we will not be able to work well,” Isacson noted.
Migrant doctors are sometimes seen as a solution to the problem of filling positions in Sweden but in 2016 a Umeå University test commissioned by the National Board of Health found that only 16 percent of the doctors originally from outside Europe were qualified to practice.
Access to healthcare became one of the most important issues of this year’s national election after it was revealed that a third of patients have to wait over 90 days for treatment despite laws saying no one should wait longer to see a specialist or undergo surgery.
In at least one case, a surgeon was fired from his position because of anti-mass migration remarks he had made on social media.
Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com
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