INTERNATIONAL OUTSOURCING

Public authorities have started outsourcing some of their operations in order to save money; and under E.U. law, if a contract is above a certain amount, then the tender process must be open to foreign companies. Yet outsourcing is not without its problems.

In the spring of 2014 the region (one of five) covering Fünen and southern Jutland issued a tender for a 10-year contract to run ambulance services, which had previously been run by the Danish company Falck. The tender was divided into four lots, covering each of the region's four main hospitals. Another Danish company won one of the tenders; the other three went to the Dutch company BIOS. Falck lost out in each case.

The region will pay roughly kr.490 million a year for the service, and will thereby save around kr.52 million a year, or roughly 10%, a saving not to be sniffed at.

The new service starts on 1 September, and here comes the problem. BIOS doesn't have, or cannot get hold of, enough Danish ambulance drivers to fulfil its contractual obligations. Its proposed solution is to employ a number of German drivers. However, not all of them speak Danish, or at least don't speak it very well. So the question becomes how well do you have to speak Danish in order to be able to carry out an important public service, which requires in part the ability to communicate in Danish?

Somewhat surprisingly perhaps, there is no clear answer to this question. People who are against BIOS say that the lack of fluent Danish speakers means that they should be barred from working. On the other hand, doctors don't have to pass a Danish test, and they need to communicate with patients at least as much as ambulance drivers.

What this episode shows is that money is not the only thing that matters, when it comes to having the private sector provide services for the public sector. Local authorities need to be careful in what is a potential minefield.

Walter Blotscher