• Sweden edition

Queue at psychiatric clinic – man takes own life

Published: 5 Dec 09 08:50 CET | Double click on a word to get a translation
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/23668/20091205/

The waiting time at Sahlgrenska University Hospital’s psychiatric clinic in Gothenburg was so long that a man in his forties who was seeking help gave up and went home, with the assistance of a close relative. Soon after the man left the house and took his own life.

The Swedish Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen) has strongly criticised the hospital’s clinic, which has also acknowledged its poor handling of the man’s case. “We ought instead to have judged the patient immediately, with consideration of the risk of suicide,” Sahlgrenska’s operations chief, Jan Svedlund, told Sveriges Radio in Gothenburg.

TT/Stuart Roberts (news@thelocal.se)

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10:19 December 5, 2009 by 2009
Such a case should never happen.

May his soul rest in peace
10:46 December 5, 2009 by martell
This is a sad case and must not happen in such a well developed European country where a human life is valued highly.
16:28 December 5, 2009 by "green Swede"
"we should have.." yeah, tell that to the man's loved ones,DISGRACEFUL!
20:22 December 5, 2009 by izbz
Same goes to all the emergency wards in all the hospital in Sweden, usually it is not the queue, Waiting for the doctor to come around takes hell of a long time. The last time I was in an emergency ward, I have to wait for4 hours. Hallo ah! EMERGENCY! I would not be surprise if some poor bugger kick the damn bucket waitng for the Doctor
21:22 December 5, 2009 by laura ka baal
Sweden has got the worst medical Arrangement in the world.
10:02 December 6, 2009 by Rick Methven
laura ka baal

"Sweden has got the worst medical Arrangement in the world"

LOL

where have you been that has better medical care than Sweden FOR FREE
10:40 December 6, 2009 by glamelixir
Rick Methven: have you ever tried medical care in Cuba or Argentina?

Anyway, once I went to the psychology clinic, was totally desperate when I arrived and found out some people have been waiting there for 9 hours. Their cases seemed terrible and after 2 hours of waiting I decided to go home. I predicted a case like this could happen any time. Let's face it, they are more interested in their fika break than in being efficient.
10:58 December 6, 2009 by Schwoebel
Budgets cuts in nearly every Psychiatric ward in Västra Gotaland won't help curtail this from happening in other areas either.
11:33 December 6, 2009 by kenny8076
why is EVERYTHING a wait in sweden, the most discraseful ´´wait´´ in this country is the housing, the process is so third world!!
12:01 December 6, 2009 by Mally Mclane
"The last time I was in an emergency ward, I have to wait for4 hours. Hallo ah! EMERGENCY!"

EDs/ERs/A&E's see people based on clinical need, not 'first in, first out'. You'll have been triaged (where a nurse or other health professional determines your clinical need) and unfortunately this mean you had to wait.

You can't possibly have a first in/first out system in the ER...
19:54 December 6, 2009 by Uncle
Rick - Better and for FREE - Israel, Canada, Cuba, France.

Good examples? Try to wait for an operation here. Try to have a complication during birth giving. Try to sit with a kid in the emergency room.

I saw a kid with a hole in her head and blood all over - sitting for 4 hours in the waiting room. My colleague saw a guy with a cutoff finger sitting for 2 hours in the emergency room line (periodically fainting).

My friends father was waiting for an easy operation for a year and our friend's complicated delivery caused a high-ranked committee to investigate the behavior of the hospital staff and lack of doctors' attention.

LET ME PAY for a better health care!

And FYI - you actually pay for it with your taxes...
21:17 December 6, 2009 by John D.
I think it is ridiculous that people are conned in Sweden into believing they actually have free healthcare. You pay dearly. The more you make the more you pay for this lousy service.

In the States I have payed no more than $200 per month for healthcare regardless of how much I make a month. And I have never waited more than 30-40 minutes.

I do agree our system isn't perfect. There is no system that is perfect.

It has always worked out ok for me though.

And I do think it is far cheaper than the system in Sweden. And people don't give up waiting in line to go home and kill themselves.

Such a shame.
21:35 December 6, 2009 by BillSargent
John D. :

You're very wrong. Very. 200 USD per month is a LOT. I know, I am an American living in Sweden. I pay just a little more than that per YEAR for my healthcare here in Sweden. Yes, the lines are long sometimes but not terribly long. If you're an emergent case, you get bumped up. What happened here was a mistake. Let us not forget about the lady who died in an emergency room in the US last year... That was much worse than anything that's happened here. The US Healthcare system is not just "not perfect" its completely broken and useless. You're very wrong.

Bill Sargent
12:27 December 7, 2009 by BluesySueJunkett
so many bad things have happened to my mum at swedish hospitals in scenarios where it should have been a simple operation. pure negligence and apathy almost cost her her life most recently for what was supposed to be a 'keyhole' opp where she was in one day and out the next. i don't like sh1tt1ng on the system, because i think it's a good thing to have, i just think it needs to be improved somewhat (a lot!) and the attitude of some healthcare workers really needs to be reviewed as well.
16:31 December 7, 2009 by peropaco
I don't understand why people even bother to go to the emergency room in Sweden. They are better off going directly to the apoteket and by some Alvedon. The doctors in Sweden are in cahoots with the makers of Alvedon. I took my child to the doctor as she was constipated for six days and the doctor said it was normal and I should take her home and give her some alvedon. Please return if she hasn't gone after ten days. To my luck my friend was coming in from Paris the day after and I asked him to bring along some milk of magnesia. If I had followed that idiot suggestion who knows what would have happened to my child. Sweden was brilliant with the management of the flu vaccine but that's it!
17:38 December 7, 2009 by Kooritze
Most european countries have good health care systems. Sweden used to be much better and has since been knocked down quite a few knotches in the best health care ratings. Here are the current ratings by WHO:

http://www.photius.com/rankings/healthranks.html

Please note the pro American model commentors: USA is currently way down the list at 37th position. Sweden 23rd. France still ranked the best in the world.
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