Despite election promises to reduce the Swedish healthcare queues, not much has happened. In January, an investigation found that the healthcare queues are "longer than ever".
The government allocated 500 million kronor to the regions in January to shorten waiting times for certain operations: cataracts, prolapse and hip prosthetics.
But there have been no major effects yet. The operations have increased moderately or are virtually at the same level as last year.
It is not enough for us to manage the care that is needed, says Minister of Health Acko Ankarberg Johansson (KD).
Half a billion
Prolapse operations have increased by 16 percent and hip prosthetic operations by 11 percent when comparing the first four months of the year with the previous year - while cataract operations have decreased by 1 percent.
Now the government is allocating an additional half a billion, or 507.5 million kronor, so that more people can have operations.
The money has been budgeted since before.
How many more operations there will be depends on the regions. But it's about thousands more operations if the entire billion is used.
Acko Ankarberg Johansson emphasizes that people today are waiting "illegally long" for care.
I find it necessary for the government to make this investment, because obviously the regions are not managing their task, she says.
Only if they perform
She emphasizes that the regions will only be paid if they perform the operations. In cases where the regions do not increase capacity so that all funds are used, they will revert to the state treasury.
The regions should use capacity from private healthcare providers when possible, according to the Minister of Health.
Considering the moderate increases so far - is this the right way to go?
We have tried with general funds for ten years and nothing has happened. The queues have increased. Now we are doing it in a completely different way, says Ankarberg Johansson.
