Age and Ageing Advance Access originally published online on May 10, 2004
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Age and Ageing 2004; 33: 338-341
Age and Ageing Vol. 33 No. 4 © British Geriatrics Society 2004; all rights reserved
Occasional Review |
Geriatric medicine in Sweden: a study of the organisation, staffing and care production in 2000–2001
Nutrition and Pharmacotherapy Unit A1:05, Research and Development Unit for the Elderly North West, Department of Geriatric Medicine, Karolinska Hospital, Karolinska Institute, 171 76 Stockholm, Sweden. Fax: (+46) 8 651 14 41. Email: gunnar.akner{at}chello.se
Abstract
Objective: the organisation of long-term medicine and geriatric medicine has undergone many changes during the last 15 years. The aim of this study is to gain an overall perspective of the present organisation of geriatric medicine in Sweden.
Design: questionnaire survey.
Methods: The Swedish Society for Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology, in collaboration with the Federation of County Councils and the Swedish Association of Local Authorities, sent out a survey to people in all county councils in Sweden. The subject of the survey was the speciality of geriatric medicine in the Swedish healthcare system, with regard to healthcare organisation, staffing and care production in 2000/2001.
Results: there were 52 separate geriatric units, 41 independent ‘clinics’ and 11 ‘sections’ within other departments. There were a total of 3,101 geriatric inpatient beds. On average, there was one geriatric bed for every 799 individuals within the local population aged 65 years and over, with a 10-fold variation between counties. Four counties had no geriatric provision. The ‘geriatric clinics’ were mainly located in university towns and averaged 85 beds per clinic, again with a 10-fold variation. There were 604 established positions for doctors within geriatrics, of which 63% were at geriatric clinics. On average, the clinics had 16 positions each (of which 75% were filled with geriatric specialists) with 7 beds per doctor. The corresponding averages for nurses and paramedics could not be summarised due to organisational differences between the county councils. In general, there were very few nurses with specialist training in geriatric medicine.
Conclusions: the field of geriatric medicine in Sweden is very heterogeneous regarding terminology, designations, structure, staffing and care production. There is no overall structural plan for the role of geriatric medicine in Swedish healthcare, with the desired close connection between content and dimensioning of geriatric specialist training and the practical organisation of the activities. The county councils designate geriatric medicine so differently that it is hardly possible to compare different geriatric facilities today. Considering how many patients at hospitals today are elderly and suffer from multiple illnesses, it is a major quality issue to ensure that these patients have access to geriatric specialists.
Keywords: geriatric medicine, organisation, care production, heterogeneity, structural plan, quality
Received March 30, 2003; Revision received January 14, 2004. accepted in revised form January 14, 2004.