Newborn dropped on the floor at Swedish hospital
Published: 3 Jul 12 08:25 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/41792/20120703/
A prematurely born baby boy was dropped on the floor by staff at the Skåne University Hospital in Malmö on Monday, in a neonatal unit which was understaffed at the time.
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Hospital staff were in the process of placing an x-ray plate under the infant when he suddenly tumbled to the floor.
"They lifted up the boy and somehow dropped him on the floor. I don't know if he slid out of their hands or fell off the bed. But he fell on the floor and screamed," clinic head Elisabeth Olhager told the paper.
The little boy's parents were left in a state of shock over the boy's fall.
"The parents are understandably very concerned and devastated," said Olhager, who added that staff members who witnessed the fall were also deeply troubled by the incident.
Despite the shocking fall, the newborn reportedly came through the incident without injury.
However, he is expected to undergo further scans to ensure that he didn't receive any skull fractures as a result of the fall to the floor.
Meanwhile, Olhager told Sydsvenskan that the hospital is taking the incident "very seriously" and plans to launch an investigation.
At the time of the boy's fall, the neonatal unit was overcrowded and understaffed, but Olhager refused to speculate on whether or not those circumstances contributed to the incident.
Just a few weeks ago, the unit came in for criticism from Sweden's National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen) for poor hygiene and staffing practices.
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Really, I hardly find this to be newsworthy. If the story is about understaffing at hospitals, then find a hard-hitting piece about that, but trying to make a case for understaffing issues with' dropping a baby' is a bit weak.
Remember that PR groups has their own agenda to make money and can have several clients. The suggestion of "we can do this" does not need to come from a client but as an offer of "we already do this which is in your interest, with more resources we can increase the impact of our efforts" (and simultaneously increase the PR companys profit).
Anyone who has confidence in Swdish healthcare is living in cloud cuckoo land.
Apologists like #2 are indirectly responsiblie for maiming and deaths resulting from wide-spread negligence and indifference.
If this had been some gross miscare, rather than someone simply tripping then it's cause for concern. Better to look at this person footwear and hospital floor surfaces if you want something to blame.
In the USA, France and most other countries, the lab results are returned within a day or two.
And, before the Sweden apologists trot out the tired old "summer holidays" excuse... the wait is just as long year round.
Despite the opinion of some people here, hospital staff are made of mere flesh and blood; just like all the rest of us. Untill hospital staff are replaced with infallible machines, I'm afraid we are all just going to have to live with the inevitible fact that people occasionally drop things; even babies.
Of course it is good that you received immediate attention. But I'm guessing you are in the favored demographic: male? white? age 30-45?
Care varies not only from place to place, but also from male to female, white to non-white, young to old....
@RobinHood,
There are far too many tragic mistakes in Sweden (though admittedly, not this case). And I do not think Oops-We're-Only-Human is an acceptable response.
Price controls lead to rationing. A market normally uses price to balance supply and demand; higher demand and/or lower supply leads to higher prices, which serve to prevent shortages. If the price of a good or service is forcedly set too low (which can only be done by government), it will increase demand beyond what the supply can offer. That's why the price was "high" to begin with, but whenever a politician sees a problem, they think it can be legislated out of existence.
Furthermore, the supply of physicians in Sweden is artificially restricted by public control of education and successful lobbying to reduce available slots in college medical programs.
This drop like for an premature infant may cause huge trouble for the kid. If he is hit in the head, this may cause several paralysis including vision, hearing and speech. And some people saying this is not 'newsworthy'. I hope nobody drops your baby until you realize that is it 'newsworthy' or not.
Even medical services in very poor third world countries are way better than Sweden. Unlike Sweden, when somebody goes to the emergency they are attended right away.
I hope the little darling will be okay and I feel sorry for the parents that they had to witness it. Having a baby born 10 weeks early is hard enough to go through.
I doubt this was a result of being understaffed, but one thing I've never understood about Sweden is why most people take their anual vacation at the same time of the year, i.e. July. Everything just either slows down or shuts completely. I know there's only a short time of the year when the weather is actually real warm in Sweden, so why can't employees take it in turns each year? That's what they do where I'm from. In a business setting or government office of something, for example, one employee from each department would go on holidays in the summer one year, but they wouldn't be able to go same time the following year, they would have to go at another time of the year. But here, it's not unusual to find cafés or shops closed in the middle of the city for the whole month of July. I don't know of any other country that does that. There's always the possibility for Swedes to travel to warm countries such as Turkey, Spain or Italy during other times of the year and the weather is still warm in those places.
One of the wonderful features of Swedish health care is that staff vacations have priority over patient care. Understaffing can be avoided by not allowing half the employees to go on vacation simultaneously.
Anybody who wants to become a nurse, doctor, cop or figherfighter knows that they will be working in a profession that provides emergency services to the publc 24/7, even in summer and over Christmas. They should therefore expect the taxpayers' right to care to take precedence over their vacation preferences. That's how it works in other countries, but not in Sweden.
There are options in Sweden. You can get private insurance on top of your normal Social Security. What one doesnt cover, gets covered by the other one.