Saturday evening, Björn Bragée, a cancer patient at one of Sweden's largest hospitals (Danderyds Sjukhus) called our newsroom and told the reporter who picked up the phone that the hospital was very dirty. "I am a doctor by profession", he said, "and no wonder people get even more sick when they are admitted to the hospital when it is so dirty."
Our reporter Nike Nylander and camerman Pelle Wickman went the next day to the hospital and filmed dirty toilets, dusty and dirty rooms etc. They made an interview with the doctor/patient, and confronted the Director of the hospital with the dirty toilets and rooms. Nylander also added an interview with a representative from the National Health Authority that explained that uncleanliness was a root cause for malignant bacteria to flourish in hospitals.
The story was broadcast Sunday night and and scandal was a fact. Today, basically all media in Sweden are following the story or doing stories of their own. I bet hospitals all over the country are being checked right now.
The Director of the hospital has publicly apologized and admitted his responsibility. And we have a new public debate on how the local councils have saved money on hiring cheap cleaning companies that cheat on the job, and how the responsible authorities have failed to check if their
subcontractors actually are doing what they are being paid for. I am doing a follow-up today on it.
And the doctor/patient, Björn Bragée, is very happy. "When I heard the footsteps of the reporter and cameraman charging in sunday morning, it was like hearing the old democracy organ playing", he said Monday night in one of numerous interviews made with Sweden's latest whistle-blower.
Watch Nike Nylander's story (pictures speak for themselves):
http://svt.se/svt/play/video.jsp?a=342596
/SK
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment