A patient from Nordland died after being flown to Tromsø for treatment, having first been admitted to Nordlandssykehuset in Bodø with a suspected heart attack. The PCI clinic in Bodø was closed for the day, and in Northern Norway, only the hospital in Tromsø has 24/7 on-call service to operate blocked blood vessels around the heart. It took five hours before the patient was operated on in Tromsø, and the patient developed complications a day later and died five days later.
In the notification, the doctor writes that heart damage may be related to the waiting time. The county doctor in Nordland has opened an investigation into the death. UNN and Nordlandssykehuset sent out a press release yesterday afternoon where they deny that the waiting time has any connection to the death.
The death has sparked strong reactions from politicians who have fought for 24/7 PCI treatment in Bodø. The Progress Party proposed earlier this winter to keep Bodø open 24/7 and establish a new PCI clinic in Ålesund. The proposal did not get a majority in the Storting, but the Centre Party and Socialist Left Party got a majority for a proposal asking the government to work for an expansion to a 24-hour offer in Bodø.
The health minister did not interpret this as a marching order but has instead initiated a review of heart treatment throughout Norway. A united county council in Nordland has passed a demand for 24/7 acute heart treatment in Bodø. The Centre Party stood behind the proposal that got a narrow majority in the Storting but has so far not changed the opening hours at Nordlandssykehuset.
The Labour Party in the Storting has so far not opened the door for a 24-hour offer in Bodø.