Where did three neurosurgeons from Santara Klinikos go to
work?
According to the latest reports, three experienced
neurosurgeons left Santara Klinikos this fall: Prof. Saulius Ročka, Dr. Ramūnas
Raugalas and Dr. Žilvinas Chomanskis.
In his social network post, Doctor R. Raugalas indicated the
private institutions where he will work from now on, but the specific names of
the new workplaces of all three doctors are not publicly disclosed, except that
some continue to work in private practice.
The media also reported that a total of 6 neurosurgeons have
left or are planning to leave Santara Klinikos, which has raised concerns about
the continuity of certain services, especially pediatric neurosurgery and functional
neurosurgery. The administration of Santara Kliniks denied rumors about a mass
exodus of doctors and claimed that all services are provided in the usual
volume, and the quality and safety of patient care are ensured.
Patients who want to consult with Dr. R. Raugalus can now
find him in private institutions (specific names are not specified in the
source, only that he indicated it on his social network).
"After the scandal that broke out this week, when 3
neurosurgeons left the Neurosurgery Department of Santara Clinics, the clinics
held a press conference in which they told what happened. According to the
General Director of Santara Clinics, Prof. Tomas Jovaiša, at the beginning of
his leadership, it was immediately apparent that there were hot spots in the
hospital, where tension and inappropriate leadership prevailed. One of such
spots was allegedly the Neurosurgery Department.
One of the doctors who left was Professor Saulius Ročka,
followed by three other doctors from this department. Prof. S. Ročka was the
head of the Neurosurgery Center, and from November 1. Aidanas Preikšaitis, who
was elected through a competitive process, began to hold the position of head
of this center.
He claims that the work schedules were unfair
"The institution's strategy was not to take quick
steps, a lot of resources were allocated to this, a response team,
organizational psychologists, and an ethics commission. In most hot spots, the
situation was resolved or improved. The neurosurgery department was one of the
hot spots, there were many complaints about disrespectful communication,” said
Prof. T. Jovaiša about the time of Prof. S. Ročka’s leadership.
According to the head, internal investigations showed that
the work organization and leadership did not meet standards.
“Young doctors were given half days, i.e. when 3-4 hours are
written down, but the young colleague is expected to work the whole day.
Schedules provided for planned absences from work. A colleague is on the work
schedule, it is indicated that she should work at the hospital, but she is not
there with the knowledge of the head or heads of the center. This applied not
only to doctors, but also to nurses. Of course, there could be neither normal
labor relations, nor any progress and development in such a center,” said Prof.
T. Jovaiša.
According to him, efforts were made to resolve this
situation for a year and a half.
“We managed to resolve formal issues, organize work
schedules, and more than 1 million euros were allocated to the Neurosurgery
Department. However, the only thing we failed to achieve was leadership
changes, creating leadership that would unite. Instead of further changes, the
head of the center decided to terminate the work and several team members did
so with him,” said Prof. T. Jovaiša.
The departure was not amicable
The head of the hospital emphasized that every colleague has
the right to a safe and respectful work environment. Prof. T. Jovaiša also says
that when leaving, Prof. Saulius Ročka acted unethically and did not transfer
work and important information to colleagues. In addition, he told the families
that there would be no one to perform the operations.
“Will there be situations when patients will have to be sent
abroad for treatment – yes, Lithuania is a very small country. [...] However,
Professor Ročka informed the family that there would be no one to perform the
operations. Normal behavior would have been to pass on the questions to
colleagues and not cause unnecessary anxiety to patients,” said Prof. T.
Jovaiša.
“For a general illustration: there was an operation that was
planned to be performed by Professor Ročka. His term of office at Santara Clinics
was still about a month away. And the professor refused to operate on the
child, although he was given the opportunity to perform that operation,” said
the head of the hospital.
The new head of the Neurosurgery Center, Assoc. Prof. Dr.
Aidanas Preikšaitis, assured that all consultations and operations are taking
place as usual, and the newly formed team has extensive experience not only
with adults, but also with children, and there are vacancies for pediatric
neurosurgical operations even in November.
According to Assoc. Prof. Dr. A. Preikščaitis, currently 11
neurosurgeons with the highest qualifications and international recognition
work at the Neurosurgery Center. All of them can consult and operate on
children, including premature newborns.
“More doctors are not planning to leave.” According to T.
Jovaiša, the atmosphere in the department is currently good, and more doctors
are not planning to leave. In addition, according to him, the entire health
system is not built on the shoulders of a few doctors, so if several doctors
leave, others can replace them. True, one specific operation, selective dorsal
rhizotomy, was placed in the hands of one doctor throughout Lithuania.
“Santara Klinikos has all the necessary equipment for these
operations, we will send doctors abroad for internships and there will be
someone who can perform such operations. Currently, there is no doctor in all
of Lithuania who could perform it. However, this is not a very complicated
operation, they are very rare. I think that by 2026 we will definitely ensure
that there is someone who performs them,” said Assoc. Prof. Dr. A. Preikšaitis.
According to Prof. T. Jovaiša, the fact that adult doctors
also care for children is a normal practice, the same is applied in Kaunas
clinics, and there are much fewer operations on children than on adults. In
such conditions, it is almost impossible to maintain competences, so doctors
specialize in both patient groups.
Prof. T. Jovaiša assures that doctors are not really leaving
Santara Klinikos en masse, on the contrary – they are coming en masse.
“Last year we had 50 fewer specialist doctors than this
year. We have a record number of specialists in the entire history of the
hospital. Yes, the sun does not shine every day, but people are increasingly
choosing to work here. This year, less than 1 percent of specialists terminated
their employment relationships. Another myth is that the restructuring led to
unbearable workloads. The average workload in the Neurosurgery Department last
year and this year was much lower than that of other colleagues in Santara
Klinikos,” said Prof. T. Jovaiša.
The trade union was also aware of the problems
According to Gabija Tomkutė, a representative of the Santara
Klinikos trade union, the problematic situation with the head of the
Neurosurgery Department has been developing for a couple of years.
“We received complaints from 6 doctors. In such situations,
there are a lot of emotions, not everything is a violation of labor relations.
However, most of the complaints were about work schedules, on-call time,” said
G. Tomkutė.
According to her, the employees complained mostly about the
unfair work schedule, and there was also very poor communication, rude
communication.
“There was a lack of communication, which makes it difficult
to create any further plans. The work is difficult, the employees are tired, so
sparks happened,” said G. Tomkutė.
One of the neurosurgeons working in the department, Gintaras
Migauskas, says that no one thought that this situation would cause so much
excitement. However, now, according to him, the atmosphere in the department is
definitely better. The doctor also wonders why the families reacted this way.
“We didn’t expect other doctors to leave. It all started
with the problem of managers and their leadership characteristics. And it was
definitely not intended or done that everything would turn out like this,” said
G. Migauskas.
Neurosurgeon Artūras Šitkauskas says that the doctors who
left were students of the doctors who are now staying.
“It’s even strange to talk about competencies now, but I’m
glad because our students were here. [...] When it comes to new operations,
it’s nothing special, just new technologies, like in every job. Therefore, the
issue of competencies should definitely not be escalated,” said A. Šitkauskas.”
Well, no
problem. We'll send some student abroad for an internship and he'll do surgery
like a professor.
Komentarų nėra:
Rašyti komentarą