KD has long pushed for healthcare to be nationalised, and now the KD leader is breathing new life into the issue.
In addition to KD, SD also wants healthcare to be nationalised. After L leader Simona Mohamsson also recently opened the door to such a reform, Busch called a press conference on Thursday.
There she raised the issue of nationalising healthcare. In any negotiations for a new government after the election, Busch will demand that a parliamentary decision be made on this during the next term.
In four years?
–We need to have a decision that in practice means that the regions are stripped of responsibility for Swedish healthcare and that we are given a nationally cohesive responsibility for healthcare, she says.
The Moderates and the Social Democrats are open to increasing state control of healthcare, but M leader Ulf Kristersson said yesterday that he does not believe in any "gigantic reorganisation."
Busch estimates that the 21 regions' responsibility for healthcare could be abolished within the next four years.
"How it should be operationalised, I see several ways where we can be constructive and meet concerns from both S and M, who have strong regional council votes in their parties," says the KD leader.
For example, she could imagine that the 21 regions are replaced by five or six healthcare areas, where it is the healthcare profession that controls the application of the national legal requirements.
Most important question
Busch notes that healthcare is the most important issue for many voters.
In many ways, it is the core of welfare.
Busch believes that it is now time for politics to prioritise welfare.
Welfare must come first, healthcare must come first.
According to Busch, nationalisation is required to make healthcare more equal across the country and more efficient so that healthcare queues are shortened.
It is obvious that it is no longer possible to patch and fix a broken system.
The Moderates promised on Wednesday to tighten the time limits in the healthcare guarantee, so that patients are guaranteed a visit to specialist care within 30 days and treatment within a further 30 days. Currently, the time limits are 90 and 90 days, respectively.
30 days is a reasonable benchmark, but I think it's a bit backwards if you don't first give healthcare staff the basic conditions to be able to do it, says Busch.
