Nordic Horizons

Next event announced - Charging Patients: managing demand for healthcare visits in Norway

Date and Venue

Tuesday 27 November 2018

Grassmarket Community Project

86 Candlemaker Row

Edinburgh

EH1 2QA

 

Tor Ingebrigtsen is professor of clinical neuroscience at the University of Tromsø, the Arctic University of Norway and senior adviser to the CEO at the University Hospital of North Norway (UNN) in Tromsø, Norway.

Chaired by Lesley Riddoch, writer and broadcaster

 

Spending on health in Scotland is proportionally less than in other European nations, and our NHS is often overwhelmed. Last winter delayed discharge of elderly patients led hospitals to cancel scheduled operations and miss A&E targets.

In Norway patients pay to see GPs and need referrals to A&E, and councils, which run hospitals, are charged for bed-blocking. This system was designed to boost doctors’ income, screen out trivial complaints and encourage the creation of more GP practices as well as home adaptations and nursing home places. Iceland, Sweden and Denmark have similar systems.

Previously a Tory MSP raised eyebrows by suggesting that Scotland should copy the Norwegian system for tackling overcrowded hospitals with a tough-sounding combination of cash payments and penalties.

So should Scotland take a leaf from the Norwegian book of tough love and manage demand using charges? Or is charging unlikely to work in the absence of other factors such as the high level of health spending in Norway, greater income equality and a hyper-fit population with a far better diet.

Tor Ingebrigtsen has 20 years’ experience as a clinician, researcher and leader, including 10 years as CEO at the University Hospital of North Norway (UNN) in Tromsø, the northernmost university hospital in the world.

Demand for this event is likely to be high, so please secure a free seat by booking on Eventbrite, but if you find you don’t need the seat, please release it via Eventbrite.

Have the Finns Ended Homelessness

Juha Kaaninen of the Y Foundation gave an excellent presentation at this meeting. Below are the various materials from this Nordic Horizons event. There is a copy of his presentation, a short audio podcast interview and two separate films of the event itself.

Download the Have the Finns ended Homelessness Presentation

 

Have the Finns Ended Homelessness ?

Have the Finns ended homelessness?

..and can Scots follow their lead?

 

Speaker - Juha Kaakinen CEO of the Y-Foundation in Helsinki

Venue – Grassmarket Community Centre 86 Candlemaker Row, Edinburgh EH1 2QA

Tuesday 18 September

Time 6-8pm

The Finns have come up with a radical approach to tackling homelessness. They give homeless people houses without having to engage with addiction or mental health services first.

Housing First is a national strategy to eradicate homelessness that’s been running in Finland since 2008. It’s built on cooperation between the government, local municipalities and NGOs and the simple notion that people can tackle social and emotional problems better if they have a secure home.

  Juha Kaakinen is the CEO of the Y-Foundation in Helsinki and he believes anyone can do what the Finns have done – “It’s simply a question of political will.”

Sceptics argue that giving homes to homeless people means subsidising addiction, huge bills when it all goes wrong and robs people of an incentive to engage with services. Strangely enough, that hasn’t happened in Finland.  But the number of rough sleepers in Britain with deaths every week and homelessness is rising in Scotland too.      Join us to talk about how the Housing First approach might work in Scotland.

 

The event is free but ticketed - you can only book via Eventbrite.

Get the Bairns Oot! - Nordic outdoor kindergartens in Scotland - 19 June

Is Scotland set to follow Norway with a push for outdoor kindergartens? And if so, how do they work? In Arctic Tromso, Turid Boholm set up the Bukkespranget Barnehage (literally 'child garden') with support from local parents. Children learn, play and eat outdoors, even in the cold, dark Arctic winter. She will describe how it's done, how parents are brought on board and how children benefit

The event will be chaired by Lesley Riddoch, writer and broadcaster - 

Tue 19 June 2018

18:00 – 20:00 BST

Augustine United Church

41 George IV Bridge

Edinburgh

EH1 1EL

 

Tickets are free but only available here on a first come - first served basis.

Next meeting announced

‘Brexit, Scotland & the EEA: The Nordic half-way house option’

Tuesday 20th March 6pm to 8pm

Scottish Parliament

Sponsored by Ivan McKee MSP

 Brexit makes it more likely Scotland will soon be negotiating its own relationship with Europe. But what will that be? Full EU membership or the expensive "halfway house" inhabited by Norway and Iceland?

What's life like in the EEA? Frustrating - since decisions and regulations are made elsewhere. But worthwhile?

Christophe Hillion is professor of European Law at the universities of Leiden and Oslo and researcher at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs and at the Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies. He has advised several European governments on EU legal issues.

He will discuss the impact of Brexit on the EU and on the EEA.

Book Tickets Here.

Is the Future Arctic? - our panelists answer

The Arctic Circle Forum - fringe event

As a packed audience last Sunday at Edinburgh found out, the answer to the question "Is the Future Arctic?" is 'yes'. You can view the proceedings in two videos from Democracy TV below to get a flavour of what the debate was like. But first; we asked some primary school children to pose their questions to the panel.

Part 1

Part 2

Next event announced - Electric Dreams

Sponsored by the Scottish Government
Speaker: Petter Haugneland, Communications Director, Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association
Chair: Lesley Riddoch, writer and broadcaster

Climate change poses serious challenges for transport throughout the world, including for car and vehicle use. As is almost always the case, the Nordic countries are leading the way in developing possible solutions. Norway, in particular, is streets ahead in its support for, and development of, electric vehicles. Come and hear how the Norwegians are making dreams of an electric car future come true, and discuss what Scotland and the UK can learn from their experiences.

 

TICKETS ONLY AVAILABLE VIA EVENTBRITE

The Arctic Circles Forum - the pupils' questions.

We invited the pupils of Pinkie St Peters Primary School in Musselburgh to record some questions for the "Is the Future Arctic?" panel. We showed the questions to the panelists. There was some surprise and general agreement - these were good questions. Check out the answers too.

Arctic Circles Forum Pupil Questions from Nordic Horizons on Vimeo.

Update to 'Is the Future Arctic?' event.

After a change of speakers , we are delighted to announce two new women speakers from Greenland for the  Nordic Horizons Arctic Circles Fringe event on Sunday 19 November. The first is Tukumminnguaq Nykjaer Olsen a young student & campaigner from Greenland who won this year’s Arctic Innovation prize. The second addition is Scots-born Rachael Johnstone who  is the Professor of Law, Arctic Oil and Gas Studies at Greenland University.

Together with Iceland’s former Foreign Minister Jon Baldvin Hannibalsson (who took Iceland into EFTA & was first to recognise the Baltic countries as independent states) and Rune Rafaelson former Director of the Barents Secretariat and an expert on oil, fishing stocks & Russian politics — it’s a heck of a line up.

The event is filling up fast - so book your tickets here now.