(cont. from § 4) Answers to interpellations 2024/25:58, 67, 76 and 83 on the situation in healthcare
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerned the situation in healthcare and the consequences of inflation. S argues that the consequences of inflation persist and that health centers and district nursing clinics will disappear, which affects patients and staff 1. S believes that the Prime Minister has committed a breach of promise by allowing staff to be laid off 1. KD argues that the consequences of inflation have been tough for healthcare and that the government's announcement was to provide money so that staff do not need to be laid off 2. KD believes that money has been provided for significantly more staff than those who risk being laid off 2. KD argues that the sector grant was necessary to cope with this year's consequences of inflation 2.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Sofia Amloh (S)
Mr. Speaker! In the debate that has taken place during the afternoon, I want to say that it has been both high and quite a lot low. In conclusion, I want to stick to a couple of things.
What the Minister has himself partially highlighted is inflation. It has been incredibly troublesome, and I would say it still is. This perhaps concerns above all the consequences of inflation, which still remain.
Even though inflation has gone down and may perhaps go down even more, the deficits in the regions and in health and medical care will not disappear. That is not how it works. The consequences of it will remain. The district nursing clinics that were to be closed will be closed. Health centers will disappear in the wake of this. It will affect patients and staff. Availability will not increase and the care queues will not decrease.
We Social Democrats have in the budgets for both 2023 and 2024 and also now in the budget for 2025 allocated more money. We have doubled the supplements over several years and thus chosen to inflation-proof so that these consequences do not occur.
Among other things, Region Sörmland still lives with the consequence that it had to borrow money to be able to pay out wages. The interest on that loan still exists.
In conclusion, I want to say that staff are being laid off within the health and medical care sector. The Prime Minister sat in the TV sofa and promised that it would not happen, and that is what this debate has been about. It has not been commented on from any side that the Prime Minister did this. Now it is a fact that it has been allowed to happen. It is a breach of promise, again, and I find that deeply regrettable.
Statsrådet Acko Ankarberg Johansson (KD)
Mr. Speaker! Thanks to Sofia Amloh and all other members who have participated in the debate, both those who have interpellated and all others!
I completely agree with what Member Amloh says about it being the consequences of inflation that have been and are extremely tough for healthcare. It is not healthcare itself that has caused these problems. It is the consequences of inflation that have made it tough.
That is why the government's announcement was completely necessary. I have repeatedly said, and it can be traced back and seen in the Riksdag's report of the debate, that the government's announcement - the Prime Minister is part of the government - was that we provide money so that people do not need to be laid off. The clear announcement when we talk about the money - it also stands in the budget - is that the money shall be used so that people do not need to be laid off.
We have, however, complied with it very well. We have provided money for significantly more staff than the perhaps 1,000 who now run the risk of being laid off. We have provided a substantial amount of money so that the regions can avoid laying off staff, but we will still have lost the staff who have been laid off. That is going to be problematic. It is perhaps four or five regions that are doing this, but it will have major repercussions there. Even if the majority are not making any savings at all or do not need to issue notices and layoffs, it affects healthcare.
That is why it has been necessary to have the sector grant during this period. We are extending it next year. Despite SKR's assessment that the regions will end with a surplus next year, we are allocating 2 billion. The sector grant has not existed before. We added it to manage this year's consequences of inflation, but we are also keeping it next year.
We were back at 100 percent care capacity in May regarding operations and visits compared to the time before the pandemic. It was a fantastic recovery. The summer and the conflict have had an impact, but now it is a matter of finding ways to improve the work environment and working conditions so that patients can once again receive the care they need. And do not forget that the staff are making magnificent efforts every day!
We must ensure that it works for both staff and patients. That is when we have an equal healthcare.
Thank you very much for the debate!
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.