A survey carried out by news shows that very few nursing homes actually face consequences if they break the law, beyond the nursing homes having to change routines. Over 200 complaints from relatives have been reviewed in the survey. In 109 out of 203 complaints, state administrators concluded that the nursing homes broke the law in their processing. This was the case in the case of 82-year-old Halvor Goderstad, which news told about last Wednesday. Nothing indicated that he was dying; nevertheless, the nursing home chose to prepare final, palliative medicine for him. Goderstad died shortly afterwards, with his family around him. Pursuant to the Health Inspection Act, it is the State Administrator who is responsible for the supervision of nursing homes, and who examines and assesses whether the Act has been complied with. They can give formal reactions such as professional orders, for example to change routines. Anders Haugland, legal director at the Norwegian Health Authority. Photo: Inger Kristine Lee / news If the offense is of such a serious nature that it is appropriate to give a reaction to the business, the case must be forwarded to the Norwegian Health Inspectorate. But they have only received a small number of cases in recent years, confirms legal director Anders Haugland at the Norwegian Health Authority. He cannot say exactly how many cases are involved. – Those cases where there is talk of quality in nursing homes, it is the State Administrators who follow up and the municipalities who sort things out, without them necessarily coming to us. This means that most of the cases have had no consequence for the business, beyond following up routines. – That these cases, that these offences, do not have consequences, can show that one has no respect for the law, says Anne Kjersti Befring, lawyer and associate professor of public law at the University of Oslo. Associate professor in health law at the Faculty of Law at the University of Oslo, Anne Kjersti Befring. Photo: Martin Leigland The nursing home Halvor Goderstad lived in was later found guilty of breaking the law. There were still few consequences for the home, beyond the fact that the nursing home went through routines and changed them. – Serious Befring says the findings news has made are serious. She is concerned about the quality of Norwegian nursing homes. – I think this is serious. There is a difference between the offences, but some of them are very serious. I am surprised that there are no consequences, she says. news’s mapping shows that there are five types of offenses in particular that are repeated by the State Administrator: When you complain about the treatment at a nursing home, the complaint goes to the State Administrator. They can come up with some, but few sanctions. They can also pass the case on to the Norwegian Health Inspectorate, which can come up with more serious reactions. – What do you think about the fact that so few of the cases have been forwarded to the Norwegian Health Authority? – I think it is appropriate that the state administrator can close cases. But it is striking here that none of the cases or decisions have any consequences, Befring replies. The complaints news has looked at are spread throughout the country: Fears the law is losing its force. In half of the cases news investigated, violations of the law were found. Befring believes it can tell us about major challenges in Norwegian nursing homes. – It is serious, because the population must have the security that they will receive proper health care when they need it. This can tell us that we have major challenges with the quality in nursing homes. If the law is not enforced, one can lose respect for it, Befring believes. The same can happen if there are no consequences for the nursing homes to break it. – This applies to the nursing home, but also to patients and relatives who may lose trust in the nursing home. None of the cases that news has looked at were forwarded to the Norwegian Health Authority. Befring describes it as “disturbing”. – When you see that there are so many offences, it may mean that the supervisory authority must be more active in carrying out inspections on its own initiative, she believes. More effective follow-up of the municipality Anders Haugland, legal director of the Norwegian Health Inspectorate, says it is complex to provide good services. – The most important thing when things happen that you don’t want to happen, is to look at what works and make things change. He believes it is important to get businesses to question why the incidents happen to them. – If the business does not correct itself, which it usually does, then we initiate improvement measures, says Haugland, and continues: – But it is primarily the employer’s responsibility to follow up the employees. We are more of a secondary function. Haugland says it is difficult to answer whether the Norwegian Health Authority has a full overview of the cases handled by state administrators. – We can collate the cases with state administrators, but they are the ones who work out in their county. I cannot give the number of cases here and now. Not surprised When asked if Haugland thinks it is surprising that an offense was found in more than half of the complaints news has looked at, he answers “no”. – The next of kin have filed the complaint for a reason. In that sense, there may be reason to believe that there was an offense in some of the cases. In seven out of 203 cases news has looked at, there were reactions against healthcare personnel. The rest went to the businesses. None of the cases concerning the business were forwarded to the Norwegian Health Authority for further action. – If the business in collaboration with the staff finds a safer practice, then that is what we are looking for, says Haugland.
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Several violations of the law at Norwegian nursing homes – have few consequences – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
