What happened
A new political administration has been formed in Region Skåne, where the Sweden Democrats gain expanded influence despite losing four seats and landing at 26 seats in the regional council. The agreement includes the post of vice-chair of the regional executive board as well as leadership positions on committees and hospital boards. Meanwhile, data shows that healthcare in Skåne relies heavily on labor born in other countries. Among specialist doctors and assistant nurses, the proportion of foreign-born is 37 percent. Among prospective dentists, six out of ten are born abroad, and among biomedical scientists, the proportion is half.
Our analysis
The agreement between Carl-Johan Sonesson (M) and Niclas Nilsson (SD) shows how quickly political rhetoric collides with the reality of hospital corridors. The Sweden Democrats campaigned on the slogan that healthcare staff should speak Swedish, ”preferably Scanian”, but are now stepping in as employers for an organization where 37 percent of assistant nurses and specialist doctors are born abroad. What the reporting misses is the healthcare staff's own perspective: no one has asked the thousands of new Swedes sustaining healthcare in Skåne how their work environment is affected by being governed by a party that built its success on singling them out as a burden. There is also an institutional irony in the party taking top regional posts while its national line is that the regions should be abolished. Next, chairmanships of committees and hospital boards will be distributed, where SD demands a return on its 26 seats at the expense of the Liberals and the Christian Democrats. It will be a sharp test of how long leaders can pursue a hostile line against the staff that Skåne's emergency rooms cannot manage an afternoon without.
Explained
The regional executive board acts as the region's executive leadership or ”government”, with overall responsibility for finances, healthcare, and public transport, subordinate to the popularly elected regional council.
Source: Sydsvenskan