– I was terrified, especially in the first weeks. I was terrified of not making contact with the outside world. I was terrified that I would lie there and die without anyone noticing, says Qvigstad. In October last year, Lasse Qvigstad carried out a vein transplant at Rikshospitalet. After 4 weeks he was transferred to Ullern health center in Oslo. It was not a good experience for the former first state prosecutor. In an interview with news, the 76-year-old talks about what he experiences as insufficient treatment, as well as little follow-up and care in a situation where he was seriously ill. Qvigstad says the impression during his stay was that the health center was very understaffed, which led to him being able to stay in bed for several hours without receiving health care. – It is a system failure that is very, very dangerous, says Qvigstad to news. The 76-year-old was transferred to a rehabilitation center after the period at Ullern health center. He says he is doing better now, after a period of a lot of follow-up. Photo: Lars Thomas Nordby / news – Lying in your own shit for hours One of the things Qvigstad reacts to is that, according to him, there was no alarm system that worked at the health center. He refers to the alarm cord that is usually found in Norwegian hospitals and health institutions. – Then someone will arrive relatively quickly, because it could be critical. But no one ever came. It led to me – and probably many others down there – lying in my own shit for hours, he says, clearly affected. Qvigstad claims that he stayed up several nights crying for help, without getting it. On one occasion, he estimates that he lay for two and a half hours at night, without anyone coming. He describes such episodes as degrading. – When you lie there with nappies and all, 2.5 hours is no joke, in the middle of the night. – It told me that it was hopelessly understaffed, the whole place. They could not run this properly. I was absolutely sure of that while I was there. – Really scared me The 76-year-old says he was in a very bad condition when he came to Ullern health center on 22 November last year, after an extensive operation. He describes it as “a total feeling of helplessness”. – I was simply completely devastated. I couldn’t walk, couldn’t sit, says Qvigstad, who explains that a winch was used to get him out of bed. Qvigstad has, among other things, been deputy police chief in Oslo and prosecutor in the criminal case against espionage defendant Arne Treholt, in addition to leading the Oslo state prosecutor’s office for 10 years. Until he retired in 2015, he was used to being listened to. This was not the case when he tried to tell a nurse about the alarms that did not work. He says the answer he got was that “the caretaker is on holiday”. – A bathrobe cord had been laid out to the bathroom, there was an alarm. I never heard it, I just hoped it worked, he says, and adds: – I was lying there and was quite scared, really. It was the one safety moment that thoroughly scared me at the end there. Emotional Several times during the interview with news, the 76-year-old bursts into tears, including when he talks about daily visits from family and friends. Qvigstad says he was lucky to have friends and family around him. – I want to say it as strongly as if I hadn’t had it, it could have gone really badly for me. They were the support I needed. They came every day. You have to think about the mental strain this was after all. Qvigstad says, among other things, that his best friend visited him at the health center every day, for which he is very grateful. In one case, the friend also struggled to get hold of carers. – It’s serious, because I didn’t know how it would go for me, with my condition. There could be minutes to go, but they never came. It was completely understaffed, repeats Qvigstad. Lasse Qvigstad (th) greets defense attorney Andreas Arntzen during the trial against spy accused Arne Treholt in Oslo courthouse, 25 February 1985. Photo: Bjørn Sigurdsøn / NTB Regrets that news has presented the criticism from Qvigstad on behalf of Oslo municipality. Johnny Jakobsen, director of health centres, replies in an email. – I apologize that the quality of the stay is not perceived as good enough, writes Jakobsen. Furthermore, it is said that there were unfortunately very demanding periods during the pandemic, when dozens of permanent employees were in quarantine. This made access to qualified health personnel even more demanding than today, according to Jakobsen. In the interview with news, Qvigstad says that the treatment he received from one particular physiotherapist was the only positive thing about his stay at the health centre. – It was my luck, it was the only good thing there. She forced me to get going in a gentle and pleasant but at the same time firm way. Jakobsen writes that he is happy that Qvigstad has singled out the treatment from a physiotherapist as a positive aspect of the stay. At the same time, he regrets that Qvigstad “experienced insecurity because it took a long time before employees could help him”. – The employees who are at work do their utmost to help the patients as quickly as possible, but unfortunately there may be several patients who need help at the same time. Then we have to deal with the most serious situations first. – Was in the wrong place Qvigstad believes that he should never have been admitted to the health center, but instead should have been sent to a rehabilitation centre. – I was supposed to go to rehabilitation, but I was told there was no room. So I ended up where I ended up. To me the whole system seemed very random, but I was in the wrong place, no doubt about it. In addition, he points out that he felt very foggy during parts of his stay. Qvigstad says he has asked to be given a list of the medicines he received during his stay, without success. However, after news contacted him, he was told that it must be sent. Health center director Jakobsen writes in an e-mail that you can see that Qvigstad’s medication list was sent to his GP electronically when he returned home on 24 December last year. Jakobsen writes that the procedure is that all patients who travel home also receive a physical printout of the medication list. – He returned home a year ago, which means that today it is difficult to know whether there may have been an error related to the physical papers that all patients must receive on their return home. Qvigstad was transferred to a rehabilitation center after the period at Ullern health center. He says he is doing better now, after a period of much follow-up, Ullern Health Center has 96 patients. At night, there are 6 employees who will look after the patients. The health center has received several complaints against it. Photo: Kristoffer Steffensen Lenes / news – Random and without control news has previously told about Jan Sverre Borander, who begged the family not to be sent back to what he described as “hell” at Ullern health center. Avisa Oslo has also had several cases about what relatives describe as “terrible conditions” at the health center. Recently, health council Robert Steen set aside 3.8 million to strengthen staffing, according to the newspaper. Qvigstad believes that part of the challenge is that responsibility for the health centers is divided between the municipality and the state, and that there is a conflict of competence between the various departments. – It seems random and without management, says Qvigstad, who misses clearer prioritization of funds on the part of the politicians. – Expected Torgeir Bruun Wyller is a professor at the University of Oslo and senior physician at the geriatric department at Ullevål University Hospital. He speaks on a general basis. Wyller says it is to be expected that some municipal health centers have problems with looking after patients in a good way. He points out that, on the one hand, there has been a dramatic reduction in beds at Norwegian hospitals over the past 10 years. – At the same time, strong financial incentives have been created to force the municipalities to take over a greater part of the responsibility. – This has been warned against, and it is expected that in some cases it will lead to treatment failure. Torgeir Bruun Wyller, professor at UiO and senior physician at the geriatric department, OUS. Photo: Peder Bergholt / news Wyller points out that the municipalities are now taking over increasingly heavy tasks from the hospitals, as a result of political decisions. In this way, the municipalities are also given responsibility for patients with increasingly complicated treatment needs. Wyller says this is happening because politicians think it will be cheaper. At the same time, he points out that the same number of patients are coming in as before, which means that the length of stay for each patient must be cut. – Complex patients come to the health centers – isn’t it stated that the health centers must take over the medical treatment? – Yes, but the patients are often poorly informed when they are moved to a health centre. And taking over that treatment requires a certain amount of staffing and resources. If the tasks are too complicated, there will be problems. – It is said that patients must be ready for discharge when they leave the hospitals. But it is a flexible term. Ready for discharge is defined as the day another patient needs that bed even more, says Wyller.
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Lasse Qvigstad says he feared for his life during his stay at Ullern health center – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
