Region Sörmland faces primary care staffing crisis

Region Sörmland is facing significant challenges in implementing the Swedish Parliament’s ‘Good and Close Care’ initiative, which aims to make primary care the central hub of the healthcare system. A critical component of this transition is ensuring patients have access to a permanent doctor to improve safety and continuity, especially for those with complex chronic diagnoses.

Currently, only 28% of residents in Region Sörmland report having a permanent doctor. While the National Board of Health and Welfare recommends that a full-time specialist in general medicine should be responsible for no more than 1,100 inhabitants, district doctors in the region are currently expected to manage 2,400 inhabitants each.

Projections suggest that at current staffing and training rates, it will take 28 years to reach target staffing levels, a timeline that has worsened by six years in the last year alone.