Karolinska hired staff illegally – now, said the agreements up

In the week drew attention to the Karolinska university hospital rented a operationslag to perform operations in the old hospital building in Solna 800,000 per week through a contract with the company Operationskonsulterna – double the amount compared with the framework agreement for the hiring of health professionals subscribed to by the Region of Stockholm.

After the news was revealed by Today's Medicine, went to the Karolinska on Thursday issued a notice to vendors of the agency care staff. In the message, the DN taken note of, it appears that the ”attention” that providers have staffed with nurses, but to have the framework agreement, either with the hospital or with the Stockholm Region.

According to Karolinska, it is about three companies. None of these are Operationskonsulterna.

by the hospital's chief financial officer, made clear that the Karolinska now strengthens the internal control, and will not pay invoices regarding the staffing of nurses unless they avropats in the right way with a valid purchase order number. The reason is that purchases made on the illegal agreement, at the side of the frame agreements. A purchase is counted as an agreement. The agreements with the supplier therefore is a violation both against Karolinskas regulatory framework and the law on public procurement.

Of the message also shows that the orders that have not gone through the hospital's purchasing department is invalid. The only persons in the hospital who has the right to sign agreements on the goods or services is master kai fa and the purchasing manager, and after the last day of February the hospital will not pay invoices if the orders are not made correctly, but to send them back. According to the hospital, it is a point in that the sharpness of the Karolinskas internal control.

that invoices will be sent back to the companies after that date and that they will not be paid. The hospital's activities are invited at the same time that the book of all the nurses from the 1st of march if the operation is not done in the right way.

For the hospital's operations, this means that the parts of the business are at risk at short notice to stand without the nurses within just a couple of weeks. The hospital has a savings target of eur 1.1 billion in 2019 as DN told you, and according to the board, which presented a savings package of 420 million should nurses be excluded from savings, as 400 services to be removed. At the same time, the intention is to reduce the operation of the staff, which is a partial explanation for the large deficit.

the DN has searched the Karolinska, which are not able to answer how many nurses. Cfo Margareta Fixed answer in a written comment that there are problems in some areas where the subcontracting companies are not always able to deliver the services the hospital needs.

the past year has worked systematically to ensure that the Karolinska engages external suppliers according to the procurement contracts, and continues:

– In a smaller number of cases, we have now identified that agency staff have been hired from outside the existing framework which means that the regulatory framework in these cases was not complied with. We will now continue the decommissioning of the agreement which do not fall within the framework of the outsourced provider, this will need to be done gradually in order not to affect our patients.

Read more: Karolinska have to save over a billion – 400 services to be removed