'People must receive treatment in time’
2021-06-21
Three quick questions to Camilla Waltersson-Grönvall, the Moderate Party’s social policy spokesperson, about how the Swedish healthcare system can be improved after the corona pandemic.
The corona pandemic has meant that a lot of planned treatment has had to be postponed. What needs to be done to catch up?
– All the forces for good must work together. The pandemic has made the already serious problem of waiting times even more serious. We need a wider range of healthcare providers, and private actors must be given greater opportunities to become involved. For example, operating theatres must be optimally used by both public and private actors. We must avoid unnecessary administration. There must be a truly searchable national healthcare database. A national coordination of waiting times will direct the patient to receive help wherever the resources are.
Health and social care regularly top the voters’ lists of the most important issues. What do you feel is the most important thing to improve?
– Accessibility and continuity. The time patients spend with healthcare professionals must be increased. Sweden is woefully behind compared with many other countries. For example, the number of patients a Swedish doctor sees every day compared to those seen by a German doctor indicates a system failure.
In what areas of health and social care is Sweden leading the way?
– On the whole, Sweden’s medical quality is of a very high standard. We are well ahead in cardiovascular care and in cancer care. In recent years, Swedish childhood cancer care has improved, with the survival rate now at 85 per cent. Of course, the aim is for all children diagnosed with cancer to survive. We are also still leading the way in new, modern treatment methods, for example cell, immune and gene therapy. Here we are, however, in danger of being overtaken. We need to develop financing models, rectify the shortcomings in research and patient data and improve the conditions for clinical trials.
Camilla Waltersson-Grönvall was interviewed by Mattias Keresztesi, Senior Consultant and Associate Partner at New Republic. ‘Three Quick Questions…’ is a series of interviews conducted by New Republic.