Barely two weeks later he died. Again the wife, Marit and the daughters are standing. His daughter promised him one thing before he died: – We will complain about this! The nursing home agency in Oslo municipality apologizes for the family’s experience of the stay. Jan Sverre Borander was hospitalized for 8 days at Ullern Health Centre. Relatives experience what they believe was gross neglect. Photo: Privat JANUARY 2022: It was milder than usual when Jan Sverre Borander was admitted to Ullern Health Center on 27 January this year. The thermometer showed 8 plus degrees. He was to be admitted so that the health center could assess whether further rehabilitation should be provided. A violent pneumonia had meant that he spent part of January in Ullevål hospital. Jan Sverre had been ill for a few years, the illness picture was complex, but at home his wife Marit had good control over her husband’s medication and food intake for 49 years. Jan Sverre and Marit Borander were married for 49 years. Photo: Private Despite the fact that illness had repeatedly ravaged the 80-year-old’s body, they felt that he was in good shape when he was admitted. – He was able to walk by himself, groom himself, go to the toilet by himself and spoke well, says Marit Borander. And not least: The good mood he was so well known for among friends and family was top notch! He had had a PEG operated on, a tube that is fed through the stomach, after having several infections in recent years. – It will be easy to control for Ullern Health Centre, thought Marit, after having had full control of both medicine and food intake when the man was at home. It would be easier said than done. – Then it happened on several occasions that they had not been able to put the tube on and it resulted in all the food hanging in the tube bag spilling out into his bed, says Marit. She was called by Jan Sverre, who allegedly told her that it took a long time before someone came to help. Marit and Pia Borander believe that husband and father, Jan Sverre, received poor treatment at Ullern Health Centre. Photo: Truls Antonsen / news Several times he lay there for a long time before the staff arrived. They were not interested in help from relatives, according to Marit. – I said that I could help them with a short instruction manual for how to use the PEG, but was rebuffed with: Let’s do our job, says Marit today. The nursing home agency says they cannot find this with PEG spillage mentioned in the record, that is, no staff has written it down there. The family experienced that he did not receive the medical follow-up he was supposed to. It was important that the fluid balance was in order, but both the wife and the daughters suspected that the employees had no control over this. He vomited several times. The family believes the staff did not check well enough how much urine came out. This, combined with PEG spillage, made it difficult to know if he was getting enough bag and nutrition. The nursing home agency replies that there is a documented measurement of urine and urine (diuresis) on 5 of the 8 days he was admitted at Ullern Health Centre. At the same time as they saw that the care and care was poor, they saw a husband and father who was getting sicker and sicker. – He received little care. Little help to go to the toilet. It was undignified, says Marit about how she feels that the stay developed. The nursing home agency replies that it is written in the record that he received help for care 5 of the 8 days he was hospitalized. Jan Sverre called his wife and daughters home several times a day because he could not get help. Several times he lay for a long time with faeces in his nappy before he was changed. The nursing home agency replies that it is written in the record that he received help on 30.1 and 31.1 due to a loose stomach, and 1.2 and 2.2. It is not documented how long he had to wait. The family received assurances every day from the staff that Jan Sverre was in good shape. But they saw a family man who was no longer able to express himself. From being able to look after himself, he became progressively weaker and finally unable to call his family. From the time Jan Sverre was admitted on 27 January, he received medical supervision every day until 31 January. Then there was silence from the doctor, according to the record. It is written in the record on 3 February that the last medical check-up was on 31 January – 3 days earlier. At the same time, Jan Sverre was more and more included – without the family being consulted. They experience a father and husband who calls home because he feels he can’t breathe. He is given oxygen and experienced that the tube fell out of his nose, when he tried to call the staff no one came. Instead, he called home – to his family. – He was very scared. He got anxious when he had breathing problems. He yelled into the phone: Get me out of here, get me out of here, I’m dying! Pia and the rest of the family were worried and did not feel heard when they saw dad and husband Jan Sverre Borander getting worse at Ullern Health Centre. Photo: Privat Avisa Oslo has previously mentioned another patient, Frode Holst, who was also admitted to Ullern Health Center Leit that relatives are experiencing this, news has been in contact with the management at Ullern Health Center, which refers to the Nursing Home Agency. Johnny Jacobsen is director of the health centers in Oslo municipality. He is sorry that relatives have had a bad experience: – I am sorry that it has happened and the experience they have had. It is not the way it should be and I apologize for that, says Jacobsen. Johnny Jacobsen is director of Health Centers in Oslo municipality. Photo: Ksenia Novikova / news – Why does no one come when the patients call? – It may have to do with contemporary conflict, that there are many patients who need help at the same time. But it can also have to do with attitudes, says Jacobsen. He clarifies that by attitudes he means that if you don’t think about it when patients call, what he can do is that you wait too long to see the patients or prioritize incorrectly. At the same time, Jacobsen says that it is not good to wait for over an hour before he gets help if the patients have called from the room. Little doctor’s check-up Thursday 3 February, 3 days since the last doctor’s check-up, that’s enough for the family. They have taken turns looking after the father and husband. – I’m not leaving here until a doctor arrives, says Pia, Jan Sverre’s daughter to the employees. After several hours, the doctor finally arrives. Then Pia was so worried that she considered calling 113 to have him transferred to hospital. That same evening, he is admitted to Ullevål hospital. There they discovered that he was severely dehydrated. Jan Sverre never recovered from his last admission to UIlern Health Centre. Due to the stress, he did not want further treatment, according to the family. Barely two weeks later, he died in Ullevaal hospital. With his family and employees, whom he himself described as “his angels”, around him. Both the family and Jan Sverre knew he was going to die, but they did not know how long it would take. – At that point, it was uncertain whether he could stay at Ullevål hospital the whole time, or whether he would have to be transferred somewhere else if this dragged on for days, says Pia. One thing he was sure of: – He said to my sister and me: Please! Don’t let me down, don’t send me back to Ullern health center! Pia was so worried about her dad that she considered calling 113 to have him admitted to hospital. Photo: Truls Antonsen / news The family believes that this is part of the reason why he himself wanted to end further treatment at Ullevål hospital. Now the State Administrator in Oslo and Viken is processing the complaint about Jan Sverre’s treatment. It is one of several complaints about what relatives call undignified and unjustifiable treatment of defenseless elderly people. Several complaints news has spoken to several families who feel that their loved ones have not received what they believe is good enough care. It is about employees not coming when they call. They have to wait to get help and what patients and relatives claim is little medical supervision. Unworthy stay Anette’s father was admitted to Ullern Health Center in September this year. The family wishes to remain anonymous, but news has access to the complaint and the response from the Nursing Home Agency. They claim a lack of care and concern characterized parts of the stay. Several times dad calls home to say he can’t hold on any longer. He has to go to the toilet, and has called several times on the string. He says that no one is coming, so he calls his family at home. They try to reach the employees by phone, but don’t always get through on the phone either. The nursing home agency replies that it is written in the record that he was accompanied to the toilet between 1 and 10 times on most days. Photo: Kristoffer Steffensen Lenes / news In the complaint that the family later sent to Ullern Helsehus, they write that when they come to visit dad, they hear patients screaming and calling for help from the rooms. But no one should have come. Several times they see that staff are sitting in the common area and talking to each other, while patients are shouting. What was supposed to be a rehabilitation stay turned out to be something far different. He is demented, forgets quickly and gets confused easily. The family claims that he spends most of the day sitting in the chair in the room, without getting help to get out. They say he couldn’t get clean clothes. The nursing home agency replies that the patient participated in group training/walking training 11 out of 16 days. It has been documented for two days that the patient was offered a shower but refused. One day a shower is noted in the journal. The family say they did not receive any information when he was admitted. Since he is demented, he could not account for anything even if he was told. The nursing home agency replies that it is not written in the record that the family has been contacted. When dad finally asks: “Is the stay a punishment for something I’ve done?”, it doesn’t work anymore. After three weeks, they bring him home on a Monday in mid-September. Ullern Helsehus has received several complaints against them – Photo: Kristoffer Steffensen Lenes / news They have complained to the Nursing Home Agency, which writes to the family on 20 October this year that it: “is sad that the patient and relatives are left with a bad impression after their stay at the health center”. Furthermore, the Nursing Home Agency writes on the complaint that the father had to wait a long time when he called that: “We know that there may be contemporary conflicts which mean that it is not possible to respond immediately, but 20 – 30 minutes is too long” We think we have good Medical cover – We are terribly sorry that we miss out. Mistakes happen occasionally. However, most patients are satisfied. We have research that shows it. But then we sometimes miss, says Johnny Jacobsen, director of the health centers in the Swedish Nursing Home Agency. Some of the criticism from relatives is that there is not enough medical supervision. – We have good medical coverage at the health centres. We have no indication that there is not good medical supervision at the health centres. On the contrary, we think it’s good. Jacobsen does not want to comment on the specific case with Jan Sverre Borander and little medical supervision because the State Administrator is now investigating the case. No statutory staffing standard There are no statutory requirements for staffing in nursing homes and health centers today. According to the State Administrator in Oslo and Viken, management must ensure that staffing at nursing homes is sufficient to ensure proper operation. At Ullern Health Center, there are 96 patients distributed over 4 departments, with 24 patients in each department. During the day, they have 7 nurses and healthcare workers who will look after the patients. 1 nurses administer it all. In addition, they have 2–3 physiotherapists and 1 doctor per department. On night shift, there are 6 employees working on 96 patients. 1 nursing assistant per department with 24 patients and 2 nurses, which is spread over 96 patients. Ullern Health Center has 96 patients. At night, there are 6 employees who will look after the patients. Photo: Kristoffer Steffensen Lenes / news – There is a normal staffing at night. We have the highest activity during the day and patients usually sleep at night. It is difficult to say whether it is good enough, it is the staffing we have, says Jacobsen. It is the state administrator who supervises nursing homes. When they do the supervisory work, the purpose is to ensure good and proper services. The state administrator in Oslo and Viken writes to news that: “The municipalities have systems to ensure sufficient staffing to be able to provide proper services can be a theme in our supervisory work.” Source: Letter of complaint to the State Administrator in Oslo and Viken, letter of complaint to the Nursing Home Agency in Oslo. Conversations with relatives.
ttn-69
– Don’t send me back to Ullern Health Center! – Norway
