SHARE
COPY LINK

HEALTH

‘Women to blame if they suffer abuse’: study

A third of the staff working in Sweden's largest hospital emergency room believe it's the woman's fault if she is physically abused, according to a new Swedish study.

'Women to blame if they suffer abuse': study

The study, in which staff at Stockholm South General Hospital (Södersjukhuset) participated, also found that one in ten emergency room staffers don’t believe healthcare workers have a responsibility to investigate how a woman’s injuries occurred.

“The study shows that we still have a lot of work to do in terms of people’s attitudes,” Maaret Castrén, a professor in emergency medicine who works with clinical research and training at Stockholm South General, told Sveriges Radio (SR).

Every year, between 15 and 20 women are killed by their partners in Sweden and roughly half of those victims had sought care in the Swedish health system for previous abuse.

In Sweden, hospital emergency rooms are often the first – and sometimes only – point of contact for abused women in the Swedish healthcare system, according to SR.

But a new study, which included responses from 217 emergency room workers, most of whom work at Stockholm South General Hospital, has raised concerns about how healthcare workers view female abuse victims and the role the workers play in supporting them.

“I was somewhat surprised that it’s still considered not to be our job to investigate the cause of women’s injuries and that people still think that women’s behaviour in some way gives a man the right to hit them,” Castrén told SR.

According to Castrén, there isn’t enough emphasis placed on the issue, either during on-the-job training at the hospital, or in basic medical education.

Professor Gun Heimer, head of the Centre for Knowledge on Men’s Violence Against Women (Nationellt centrum för kvinnofrid – NCK) at Uppsala University, told SR that the study is in line with results from studies conducted in other countries.

She added, however, that Sweden should have come farther than other countries in training healthcare workers about violence against women and that the results of the study shows the need for additional measures.

“What’s important with the study is that the results are highlighted and we can see that this is how things are and now we have to be better,” she told SR.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

HEALTH

Lengthy waiting times at Danish hospitals not going away yet: minister

Danish Minister for the Interior and Health Sophie Løhde has warned that, despite increasing activity at hospitals, it will be some time before current waiting lists are reduced.

Lengthy waiting times at Danish hospitals not going away yet: minister

The message comes as Løhde was set to meet with officials from regional health authorities on Wednesday to discuss the progress of an acute plan for the Danish health system, launched at the end of last year in an effort to reduce a backlog of waiting times which built up during the coronavirus crisis.

An agreement with regional health authorities on an “acute” spending plan to address the most serious challenges faced by the health services agreed in February, providing 2 billion kroner by the end of 2024.

READ ALSO: What exactly is wrong with the Danish health system?

The national organisation for the health authorities, Danske Regioner, said to newspaper Jyllands-Posten earlier this week that progress on clearing the waiting lists was ahead of schedule.

Some 245,300 operations were completed in the first quarter of this year, 10 percent more than in the same period in 2022 and over the agreed number.

Løhde said that the figures show measures from the acute plan are “beginning to work”.

“It’s positive but even though it suggests that the trend is going the right way, we’re far from our goal and it’s important to keep it up so that we get there,” she said.

“I certainly won’t be satisfied until waiting times are brought down,” she said.

“As long as we are in the process of doing postponed operations, we will unfortunately continue to see a further increase [in waiting times],” Løhde said.

“That’s why it’s crucial that we retain a high activity this year and in 2024,” she added.

Although the government set aside 2 billion kroner in total for the plan, the regional authorities expect the portion of that to be spent in 2023 to run out by the end of the summer. They have therefore asked for some of the 2024 spending to be brought forward.

Løhde is so far reluctant to meet that request according to Jyllands-Posten.

SHOW COMMENTS