IVO sharply criticises handling of post-covid healthcare
The decision to close Sweden's first post-covid clinic should have been preceded by a patient safety analysis. The Health and Social Care Inspectorate (IVO) is now sharply criticising the Stockholm Region for not having complied with the applicable regulations.
- Now we have it in black and white that it was wrong of the Health Administration to close down a well-functioning operation without first analysing what it means for patient care, says Åsa Kristoferson Hedlund, chair of the Swedish Covid Association.
Sweden's first post-covid clinic was opened in the spring of 2020 at Karolinska University Hospital in Solna, and the learning about post-covid took off. But already in April 2021, the Stockholm region decided to replace the clinic with a new facility, located in Huddinge. However, the decision was not preceded by any medical risk analysis or planning to secure key competences, something that IVO is now criticising.
"The Stockholm region has failed to plan, manage and control its activities in connection with the change of the clinic for patients with post-acute covid-19 syndrome. This is because the change was not preceded by sufficient planning to ensure that the change could be carried out in a patient-safe manner," IVO writes in its decision.
The authority also points out that patients had to wait a long time for highly specialised post-covid care and that the queues for care worsened as a result of the decision. In addition, it says that patients were not informed about the changes in their care. [...]