news has recently told about Alf Ingar Selven, who died suddenly and unexpectedly after only three weeks at the Klæbu health and welfare centre. He was 67 years old. The family believes that he received a lack of care due to poor staffing at the nursing home. There must have been many substitutes and high levels of sickness absence among the employees. During the short stay, a total of 27 carers visited Selven. The death has led to the State Administrator opening a supervisory case. Politicians demand answers On Tuesday, the case will be brought before the chairmanship in Trondheim. Mayor Rita Ottervik (Ap) will then ask questions about staffing. – Some of the questions I will ask on Tuesday are about whether the transfer was well enough prepared. Was the staffing correct in relation to the needs that were there? says Ottervik to news. Alf Ingar Selven was moved from the municipal housing association Sagmyra to Klæbu health and welfare center in March this year in order to have a better life. Instead, he ended up starving and thirsty to death after a short time, according to his siblings. Neither the unit manager at the nursing home, nor the director of health and welfare in Trondheim, Wenche Dehli, recognize these in the descriptions from the next of kin. Alf Ingar the day he moved into the nursing home. Photo: Private A few days after this photo was taken, Alf Ingar died. Relatives believe there is no doubt about the change from the day he moved in. Photo: Private – Things can always go wrong Rita Ottervik has been mayor of Trondheim for 19 years. One of her passions has just been to equip care for the elderly. – This happens on your watch, in your nursing home. How could this happen? – It is in a large system, and in health, mistakes can always happen. Fortunately, we are in a completely different situation today than 19 years ago. But there is a shortage of nurses and challenges. I am worried about the labor supply for the coming years, replies Ottervik. Alf Ingar Selven was permanently brain damaged after meningitis as a child, and lived as a complete caregiver for the rest of his life. Photo: Morten Waagø / news news has spoken to several employees at the Klæbu health and welfare centre. One of them says bluntly that the person in question “has lost faith in public care for the elderly” after experiencing the poor staffing. – How do you react to that statement? – I don’t react to that in particular, apart from saying this: What we have to do is get more people to educate themselves in this field. And that we will be able to step up the budgets in the years ahead, says the mayor. – Do you take responsibility for the staffing situation, as it is today? – We have an overall responsibility at political level. There is no doubt about that. But it is difficult to get hold of health personnel, as it is all over the country, Ottervik replies. Nurse Ingrid Berg Selfjord believes that the wear and tear on the health personnel has been great over time. Photo: Kari Sørbø / news Must prevent employees from leaving The main representative of the Norwegian Nurses’ Association (NSF) in Trondheim municipality, Ingrid Berg Selfjord, believes the problem lies in preventing health personnel from leaving their positions. – There will always be a need to educate more people. But the most important thing we can do is to get people to stand in their positions, stay in this service and in these workplaces, says Selfjord. She is happy that the matter is being taken up in the chairmanship, and believes it is good to learn from events, for better or for worse. However, she calls for a larger debate. – Desperate minimum over many years – I would like, in addition to learning from specific cases, that you can also have a slightly better debate about the general staffing level, says Selfjord. The staffing problem in Trondheim municipality has been there for many years, according to her. – I think that we have settled on a rather desperate minimum over many years. We have tried to cut to the bone in order to spend as little money as possible on it. That is probably the opinion that we union representatives sit with, says Selfjord. If you want to prevent more such serious incidents, such as the death of Alf Ingar Selven, something must be done about the staffing level, emphasizes Selfjord. – Because it has not only been this case in Klæbu this summer. We have also had other cases at one of the health centers and another nursing home. Siblings Kurt Selven and Laila Engvik complained about the case to the Statsforvalteren in Trøndelag. The state administrator opened a supervisory case in June. Photo: Morten Waagø / news
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Mayor of Trondheim, Rita Ottervik, responds to criticism after Alf Ingar Selven died in a nursing home – news Trøndelag
