Region summons hospital leaders over doctors’ departures

Leaders at Rigshospitalet have been called to explain whether patients can still receive appropriate treatment after three senior doctors who raised concerns were suspended and are now leaving, DR reports.

Christoffer Buster Reinhardt, a Conservative member of Region Hovedstaden’s council and chair of its health committee, said he was concerned about whether enough surgeons were available to perform liver transplants on children, and whether they had the right skills.

The three doctors worked in the hospital’s Department of Transplantation and Diseases of the Digestive System, the only department in Denmark that performs liver transplants. After two surgeons left earlier this year, five senior doctors sent a letter to hospital management and the region warning of risks to patient safety and what they called an “acute staffing problem”. They also criticised the department’s management style.

Three of the doctors were subsequently suspended and are now leaving the hospital. Since the first letter, nurses and other doctors at the department have also sent letters raising concerns.

In a response to DR, Rigshospitalet’s management said it could stand by the treatment of patients in the current situation and was working to recruit new specialists.

Reinhardt said he wanted a full explanation of why the three doctors were suspended. He said questions had been raised about whether their letter had led to their suspension and eventual dismissal, and said public employees must have full freedom of expression, including at Rigshospitalet.

The hospital’s executive management is due to explain the case at an extraordinary meeting of Region Hovedstaden’s executive committee at 9 a.m.