Shortage of ICU Beds & Healthcare Workers in Sweden
The healthcare system of Sweden has reached 99% of its total national capacity this month in December 2020, even though the European country operates on a universal healthcare system. This news comes alongside the alarming ones about the country running out of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds and being understaffed with skilled healthcare workers as the country faces a problem of staff quitting their jobs at hospitals and clinics at a rate of 500 medical workers per month!
With Sweden hitting 99% capacity levels, the country’s National Board of Health and Welfare (NBHW) has started prompting calls for foreign help to deal with the health crisis at hand. In fact, the situation is so bad that Dr. Sten Rubertsson of the NBHW has said that he is “unsure” about being able to reach the original 1,100 bed mark they were able to hit during the spring when the pandemic first hit. He says that “people are exhausted”, which is a major reason behind healthcare workers handing in their letters of resignation this year.
The Chairwoman of the Swedish Association of Health Professionals, Sineva Ribeiro has deemed the situation “terrible”, saying: “I talked to members in August who said they would resign because it was the only way to get some time off and recover.” She went on to say that they saw “high rates of sickness, symptoms of exhaustion and members who have been infected.”
The lack of healthcare professionals is causing a rise in concern that people could lose their lives due to lack of care capacity in Sweden’s hospitals and medical centers.
Credit: ECDC/Bloomberg
