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HEALTH

Copenhagen hospital beds left unused due to nurse shortage 

Up to one in ten hospital beds in the Greater Copenhagen region are currently unable to be used due to a shortage of nurses.

Published: 14 June 2022 10:54 CEST
Copenhagen's Rigshospital
Copenhagen's Rigshospital is unable to use all of its bed due to a nurse shortage, according to a report. File photo: Philip Davali/Ritzau Scanpix

The three major hospitals of the Greater Copenhagen region — flagship Rigshospitalet, Bispebjerg, and Herlev-Gentofte — have all closed approximately 10 percent of their patient beds due to a lack of staff to support them, newspaper Berlingske reports.

Qualified nurses are being recruited for higher-paying jobs in the private sector, resulting in a shortage in the public health system, according to the report.

The nurse shortage “will accelerate and will not resolve itself until the nurses get significantly more in pay,” said Social Democrat Leila Lindén, a member of the elected board in the Greater Copenhagen Region. 

“This is a serious and very concerning problem,” Lindén also said.

“We must put pressure on (parliament), which must realise that wages must be increased so that they reflect the responsibility and tasks nurses have,” she said.

Last summer saw weeks of strikes by nurses protesting over pay and working conditions. A collective bargaining deal rejected by the nurses’ trade union DSR was eventually enforced by government intervention.

READ ALSO: Danish hospitals lose nurses after summer 2021 strikes

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WORKING IN DENMARK

Foreign workers report increased appeal of Denmark and Copenhagen in study

A new study has placed Denmark first in the Nordic region and 17th in the world in terms of popularity among foreign workers.

Published: 24 April 2024 16:49 CEST
Foreign workers report increased appeal of Denmark and Copenhagen in study

A global study by Boston Consulting Group and The Network, in which Danish jobsearch site Jobindex participates, found that Denmark is punching above its weight globally when it comes to presenting itself as an attractive option for foreign staff.

A high ranking in the study is good news given Denmark’s high employment rate and difficulty reported by businesses filling long and short-term positions, the Boston Consulting Group said in a press release.

The study, Decoding Global Talent 2024, was released on Wednesday. The study has been conducted on repeated occasions since 2014, gauging the preferences of international workers.

It is the largest study of its kind in the world and with over 150,000 respondents from 185 countries including 11,000 from Denmark.

“It’s very impressive that Denmark takes a top position on the list. We are far from being the 17th-largest country in the world. The highest places naturally go to the English-speaking countries where most people have the language,” Boston Consulting Group’s Managing Director and Senior Partner Andreas Malby said in the statement.

“But foreign labour wants to go to Denmark because of quality of life and security in this country,” Malby added.

Individual countries’ performance in the study is based on the subjective perceptions of workers around the world, who submit votes. In addition to quality of life and security, other factors such as economic growth, tax, healthcare and work permit and visa processes can all influence the perceptions of survey respondents of how countries brand themselves.

Denmark’s ranking this year is an eight-place improvement since the last time the study was conducted in 2021. The 17th spot achieved this year puts it ahead of Nordic neighbours Sweden, Norway and Finland in the ranking.

Copenhagen also popular

Capital city Copenhagen rates well on the city version of the list, its 28th place also ahead of Nordic rivals.

“It reflects Denmark’s good image that manages to attract international labour,” the CEO of Jobindex, Kaare Danielsen, said in the statement.

Danielsen described the study as “big and good news for Danish employers who face a shortage of staff in the short and long terms”.

“We are looking at an international shortage of labour in areas like green transition and AI where it is hugely important for us to attract international labour,” he said.

Danielsen noted that the results of the study point to a potential for Denmark to recruit more labour from southern Europe, where it has a high level of appeal for skilled workers.

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