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Danish News in Brief: Capital Region under fire over 1 million kroner trip to US conference

Ben Hamilton
August 30th, 2018


This article is more than 6 years old.

In other news, visually-impaired groups have had enough of people vandalising traffic crossing loudspeakers, and seven Christian groups question whether society should be so accepting of floating gender identities

All that free coffee (photo: Pixabay)

The Capital Region has come under fire over its plans to send 47 healthcare professionals – a mixture of executives, managers and employees – to a conference in the US state of Wisconsin in late September at an estimated cost of 987,000 kroner.

It is believed that the other four regions intend to send reasonably large delegations over as well in a bid to improve their employees’ understanding of the new patient record database, which is being introduced across the country as part of a massive overhaul.

READ MORE: New IT system causing chaos at Danish hospitals

Just short of retirement
One of the Capital Region employees was just a month short of their retirement at the time of the expensive trip across the Atlantic.

Furthermore, it is not believed that many of the Danish delegates will directly use the system, which has had many teething problems since its introduction at selected hospitals in 2016.

Enhedslisten has demanded an explanation.


More women assaulted in workplace than men
For every assault on a man in the workplace, there are two on a woman, although the figures include mental abuse as well as physical violence. According to an analysis of Arbejdstilsynet data carried out by the Fagbladet 3F trade union, of the 14,438 complaints made concerning assaults in the workplace, 9,610 were made by a woman. According to Professor Åse Marie Nielsen at the University of Copenhagen, women tend to have more civic contact than men and are more likely to make complaints.

Extra 1,000 kroner added to amount students can earn on SU
Tommy Ahlers, the minister for education and research, has confirmed that working students on SU will be allowed to earn an extra 1,000 kroner a month. “I want to give the students more opportunities and more flexibility while studying. If some students want to work a little more, for example during the summer holidays, they should have the opportunity,” explained the minister. Meanwhile, Ahlers intends to set up an expert committee to assess the motivational effect of SU on today’s students. Including the SU, higher education students can enjoy a net income of 12,222 kroner a month. If they make any more, they are made to pay part of their SU back.

Muffled loudspeakers at traffic lights a pain for the visually-impaired
Deliberately muffling the audible traffic signals designed to help visually-impaired pedestrians who are hard of hearing is becoming an increasing problem, reports BT. According to Thorkild Olesen, the president of Dansk Blindesamfund, there are at least two complaints every month from the society’s members. Foam, needles and nails are often used to block the loudspeakers, he confirms.

Students completing their studies quicker following 2014 shakeup
Students are getting quicker at completing their university studies, according to figures from the Ministry of Education and Research. Between 2011 and 2017, the average completion time of a course decreased by 6.5 months, thus achieving a governmental goal set in 2014 to reduce the completion time by 4.3 months by 2020. Back in 2014, students were taking an average 11.6 months extra to complete their course.

READ MORE: Students meet grant reform with mix of criticism and understanding

Christian groups fighting back against floating gender identities
Following a meeting on September 17, seven Christian groups have concluded that they must together develop a plan to address what they perceive to be the growing problem of floating gender identities, reports Berlingske. They are concerned that people are no longer identifying as just male or female, and that society is adapting. A prominent Catholic debater Iben Thranholm told the newspaper that Christians are feeling increasingly excluded by a society that no longer allows them to express critical thought.

READ MORE: Record crowd turns out for Copenhagen Pride


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