The proposal that was on the politicians’ table was to introduce an interpreter fee for patients who had a residence permit for two years or more. The proposal has been criticized by both lawyers and healthcare professionals, and ahead of today’s debate the chairman of the council tried to stop it.
– Any decision is illegal as it goes against the municipal law. Therefore, I refused to put the proposal to a vote. But the council still made the decision to force me to present the proposal, says JanAnders Palmqvist (S) to SVT Nyheter Blekinge.
According to Palmqvist, today’s decision on interpreter fees can be appealed to the administrative court.
– Anyone can do that. And I do not think that the Administrative Court will approve the decision.
“Adventures life and health”
Opposition regional councilor Christina Mattisson (S) appealed to the board to “listen to the profession and the common law”.
– In the worst case scenario, this can endanger the patients’ lives and health.
Björn Tenland Nurhadi (SD) replied that the proposal is reasonable:
– If you have lived in Sweden for five or six years, you should know Swedish well enough to be able to understand healthcare staff and other government officials.
After a vote, it was clear that the proposal to introduce interpreter fees was voted through by SD, KD and M, with the numbers 30 to 27. The plans are to introduce the fee in the spring.
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Huria and Aryan will have to pay for an interpreter at the doctor – are critical of the decision. Photo: Karin Karltun/SVT