Aftenposten and Norway’s health minister do not understand general practice
Translated from Norwegian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.
At a glance
Opinion
Named sources
Context piece
- Family doctor and professor Erik L. Werner argues that municipal online doctors often lack access to patients’ records, cannot examine them or provide ongoing follow-up, and will frequently refer them elsewhere.
- He says family medicine depends on trust and knowledge built through repeated consultations, which can help doctors recognize when seemingly minor symptoms become serious.
- Werner criticizes Health Minister Jan Christian Vestre for promoting online doctors while removing reimbursement for family doctors who respond to patients’ written inquiries.
What can online doctors actually do? For family doctor and University of Oslo professor Erik L. Werner, the answer is far less than Aftenposten and Health Minister Jan Christian Vestre appear to believe.
In an editorial published on Aug. 27, Aftenposten praised the idea of a “municipal online doctor.” Under pilot schemes in selected municipalities, doctors answer patients’ general-practice questions by telephone or video consultation. But these doctors do not know the patients, cannot access their medical records or other important medical information, and cannot provide follow-up later.
What can online doctors actually do?
They also cannot examine patients in practice. Werner says they cannot prescribe antibiotics or other medicines, and cannot issue sick notes. In most cases, he argues, the online doctor will simply advise the patient to contact their regular family doctor, or an emergency clinic if the matter is urgent.
A family doctor depends above all on mutual trust with the patient.
Werner says general practice depends above all on mutual trust built over time. Family doctors learn how patients respond to fever, pain and other symptoms during repeated visits, including small and major life crises. That history helps them assess whether a new symptom is serious and reach the right diagnosis more quickly.
He accuses Vestre of provoking family doctors through policies that run against professional advice. Although the minister repeatedly describes family doctors as the foundation of the health service, Werner says he is steering Norway toward another family-doctor crisis. He calls it incomprehensible that the government removed reimbursement for family doctors answering their own patients’ written inquiries while encouraging those patients to contact an unfamiliar municipal online doctor instead.
It is really incomprehensible.
About this summary
Originally published by Aftenposten in Norwegian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.
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