Fewer places at BUP in Gothenburg after mold attack
Isak Wessman will work this weekend. But he doesn’t know exactly where.
« It’s a lot, much concern, » he notes when DN meets him on Thursday.
The nurse works in the outpatient department at child and adolescent psychiatry, BUP, at the Eastern Hospital in Gothenburg. Here, among other things, young people who are seriously ill in eating disorders are cared for. But on Friday, the building will be emptied.
Since last fall, patients and staff who have been in the premises have been affected by skin rashes, difficulty breathing and nosebleeds. The problems with moisture and mold in the building have been so severe that parts of the staff have been on sick leave or relocated. Josefine Bergsten, who is a specialist nurse and safety representative at the Health Care Association, notes that the move is longed for.
– We are grateful that this house closes – we don’t want to be here. We do not want any patients to be here. But … it could have been done better.
From Next week, the business – which in addition to the department for eating disorder patients will contain an emergency room – be conducted in new temporary premises in the hospital area. What the weekend looks like has not been notified yet. The move means that BUP will share a building with adult psychiatry, and that the number of inpatient places will decrease from 16 to 9 until the summer.
– Our patients are the ones who are absolutely sickest in eating disorders. There are always people who need this care. And now fewer will get it, says Josefine Bergsten.
Marie Carlsson, who is the head of operations for child and adolescent psychiatry, says that in the near future it is planned to provide more children and young care in the home.
– We have noticed this has been very successful, especially among eating disorder patients, she says.
The manager says it has been difficult, but necessary, to find new premises. Recently, the Swedish Work Environment Authority conducted an inspection in the premises, and announced that it prohibits operations in the building from 31 May.
What do you think it went so far?
– – – Nobody thinks it’s good – I don’t either. It is clear that it is unfortunate that we had this unhealthy indoor environment. But you have to be persistent and fight and that is what we have done. And now we see the light in the tunnel, says Marie Carlsson.
For the summer, the eating disorder operations will move again, to a newly built department. In the longer term, the goal is for BUP to have its own, new building. The premises will be completed in 2028.
But it is just late, according to Josefine Bergsten. She recalls that the mold -damaged premises were built in 1983 and from the beginning were described as temporary. In 2021, the regional board stopped the plans for a new BUP house, and now the healthcare staff see even more years of provisional solutions ahead of them.
– This is the result of really cash political decisions, says Josefine Bergsten.
Regional Council Carina Örgård (V) Is the red -green board spokesperson on the matter. She emphasizes that it was the previous regional board that did not want to decide on a new building, and says that she regrets that both staff and patients were forced to stay in premises that have proven to be moldy.
– I really understand their frustration. But now we do everything we can to get good premises that work for this target group – which is so fragile.
Can you promise that a new building is in place in 2028?
– No, is it something we have learned the hard way is that we can never say a date when it comes to this. But I can promise that I will do everything I can to monitor this and see that it is moving forward, says the regional council.
