The Standing Committee on Health and Care Services has issued a recommendation based on two private member's bills addressing the patient transport scheme. The proposers argue the scheme has significant weaknesses: accommodation allowances are too low, many patients face unnecessarily long journeys, and the scheme is seen as cumbersome and bureaucratic. The committee is calling on the government to evaluate accommodation rates, establish clearer standards for travel time, and ensure more coherent oversight of patient transport.
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These are the proposals in the document, not decisions. See the votes for the outcome.
The Storting calls on the government to review accommodation allowances for patient transport, including an evaluation of the pilot scheme with increased rates in Northern Norway and consideration of extending it nationwide, to ensure rates align with patients' actual costs, and to report back to the Storting in an appropriate manner.
The Storting calls on the government to ensure that total travel time is the primary consideration when choosing transport methods, rather than selecting the cheapest option for the health authority, so patients with long distances avoid unnecessary journey time. The government is also asked to establish a clearer standard for acceptable travel duration and report back to the Storting in an appropriate manner.
The Storting calls on the government to ensure that patient transport is given greater priority when air transport is used for healthcare treatment.
The Storting calls on the government to ensure more integrated management of patient transport, viewing administrative and practical operations as a single system, and to report back to the Storting in an appropriate manner.
The Storting calls on the government to evaluate the patient transport scheme, involving patients, relatives, healthcare staff, and transport operators in the evaluation, and to report back to the Storting in an appropriate manner with proposals for improvements that ensure patients and relatives do not face unnecessarily long, burdensome, or costly journeys.
The Storting calls on the government to establish a fully functional patient transport scheme for the Glåmdalen region without delay.
The Storting calls on the government to consider a travel guarantee with refunds for alternative transport costs as part of Patient Transport's service charter.
The Storting calls on the government to work toward coordinating publicly funded transport services, in cooperation with county authorities, transit operators, and municipalities.