August 9, 2023: – Hello, hello. I have a lot of people with me today, says Sonja Berg to her husband Jan. He sits in the common room at the nursing home when news comes to visit. Sonja gives him a hug. Jan kisses his wife on the cheek. A year ago Jan could neither speak nor eat by himself. Sonja rolls her husband across the hall and into the patient’s room. – Do you remember that they have been here before? asks Sonja. – Yes, says Jan. – Nice to see you, and thank you for letting us visit again, says news’s reporter. – Yes, it’s nice, says Jan. When news first visited Jan at Kattem nursing home in Trondheim municipality a year ago, we received no response. He also turned away when his wife tried to get a kiss. Last year at this time, Jan, who has Parkinson’s disease, had fallen at least 23 times in three months under the nursing home’s care. His wife found him in a pool of blood. Several falls led to severe pain and hospitalization. There was only one carer on duty at the nursing home in the afternoon, evening and night. Sonja felt very insecure and feared receiving a phone call that the man had killed himself. Trondheim municipality insisted that the staffing was reasonable. But shortly after news first mentioned the case in October 2022, there were suddenly two carers on duty when Sonja visited her husband. Since then, she has experienced that the man has gradually improved. Sonja believes that this extra carer at the nursing home is the reason for her husband’s recovery. The municipal manager of the health and welfare centers in Trondheim, Siri Ekle Skaanes, tells news that she is happy that Jan has improved, but does not want to guarantee that the additional carer will continue. Could have been avoided on 5 September 2022: “Jan? Jan?”, Sonja tries to get in touch with Jan in the patient room at Kattem nursing home. He is restless, not looking at her. When news visits him this day, he is lying on a sofa in the common room. Barricaded inside using a dining table and some pillows. This way the one carer on duty this afternoon has control over him, while she helps the other residents. In his patient record, several carers point out that falls could have been avoided with more staffing. Sonja has to hold him while news is there, so that he doesn’t fall. She thinks a lot about the pain Jan must have had. Because he is unable to report when he is in pain, she says. Less restless and eating better A couple of months after the nursing home put in an extra carer, Sonja noticed that Jan had improved. On Christmas Eve, he waved to his family. He hadn’t done that in a long time. 9 March 2023: In Jan’s patient record it is stated that he is “less motorically restless, eats better and has gained a little weight.” In the months that pass, the recovery continues, according to his wife: 25 April, at 10:54Sonja: Everything is in order here. Jan is doing as well as he can28. May, at 18:11Sonja: Going very well. Jan had a visit from Stadsbygda today. There were nine of us in the room. This day they got him out of the wheelchair so he could sit in a chair. 23 July 2023: Sonja and Jan celebrate their golden wedding together at the nursing home. July 24, at 09:56Sonja: Fantastic celebration yesterday. Jan was as good as can be. Seemed happy and followed along. Dance and wave Expert links carer to recovery 9 August 2023: The carer rolls Jan on the scales when news is visiting. – He has put on ten kilos, says Sonja. Jan Berg is weighed at the Kattem nursing home in Trondheim. Photo: Vanja Skotnes Holst / news Today he also eats himself. – Now you’re good, Jan. It’s been a long time since you’ve done this. Last summer you didn’t pick up the bread slice at all. There is great progress, says Sonja, as the man himself puts the slice of bread in his mouth. – Jan is better because the nursing home put in an extra carer. Because there are two on duty instead of one. They have been able to make time for him – so that he has become so “upbeat”, she tells news. Sonja receives support from one of Norway’s foremost experts on Parkinson’s disease, Charalampos Tzoulis. He is a senior physician and professor of neurology and neurogenetics and works at Haukeland University Hospital and the University of Bergen. One of Norway’s foremost Parkinson’s experts, Charalampos Tzoulis. Photo: Simon Skjelvik Brandseth / news – I don’t know the nursing home or Jan, so I can’t say anything directly or with certainty, says Tzoulis, and continues: – Perhaps one of the most difficult symptoms or challenges with Parkinson’s disease is what we call apathy . This means that you lack the initiative to do things. You can also lose your appetite, lose your appetite, he says. – I think that it may be that the extra help he received has played a very large role in improving his function and quality of life. The chief medical officer also says that it is very important to have sufficient staffing in nursing homes. Tight budget frameworks news has made repeated attempts to get an interview with health and welfare director Wenche Dehli in Trondheim municipality. Dehli has not wanted to be interviewed about the case, despite the fact that Sonja Berg has exempted her from the duty of confidentiality. Dehli writes the following in an email to news: She also refers to the municipal manager for the health and welfare centres, Siri Ekle Skaanes. The municipal manager will not comment directly on the case either, despite the fact that she is exempt from the duty of confidentiality. She will only be interviewed on a “general basis”. Municipal manager Siri Ekle Skaanes will not comment directly on Jan’s case, despite the fact that she is exempt from the duty of confidentiality. Photo: Morten Waagø / news – Why was an extra carer added to this department? – In general, it is now the case that all health and welfare centers are allocated a budget framework that is the same for all units. And make the priorities they do to meet those needs and provide proper services. It has also been done in this case. In special cases, the unit can be supplied with additional resources based on given criteria and which are described in a routine. This is followed up and assessments are made as to how long there is a need for additional resource allocation. – So there was a need here? – I don’t want to talk about that individual case, but on a general basis, this is how we relate to the allocation of resources to the individual departments, and if there are special needs, they can be allocated extra resources in accordance with our routines. The municipal manager will not guarantee that the additional carer at the nursing home will be allowed to continue. – Jan Berg’s relatives say that they have noticed an improvement in him after the nursing home put in an extra carer. What do you think about it? – I have been in contact with relatives here, and I have also given her feedback that I think it is incredibly gratifying that there has been this positive development and that he is doing much better now. It’s good to hear such feedback, I think it’s great. Skaanes will not answer whether the help Jan has received at the nursing home has been appropriate. Nor will she answer what the extra resource has added to the nursing home. – Sonja is worried that the carer will disappear and that Jan will get worse. Do you understand that relatives can become worried if they do not know whether the extra help will last? – That I can understand. We want a good and close dialogue with relatives, and assure them that the help they get is good and sound, she says. She also says that staffing at the health and welfare centers is marginal. – And we plan to gradually increase staffing in accordance with the adopted Elderly Plan. At the same time, she says that she feels that they have tight budgets, and that they would like to have more resources. – But we have to deal with the framework we have and also try to make the best possible priorities. – You should not be dependent on having relatives who stand by to get the resources you need. The units must make assessments of needs on an independent basis, says Skaanes. Unit manager Sissel Olufsen at Kattem nursing home did not want to be interviewed in the matter. – Completely irresponsible, Jan strokes his wife’s hand, calmly. The extra staffing has meant everything to Jan, says Sonja. – It has meant the most. Also for the other patients and not least the carers. She has spent a lot of effort fighting for the man to get well in the nursing home, she says. It’s worth it when she sees how well he’s doing today. – Do you feel that you are still in a fight? – Yes. I am constantly afraid that that guard will be taken away. – How would you react if the carer disappeared again? – We’ll see. It is completely unjustifiable, in any case. Sonja and Jan follow news out into the hallway towards the exit door. As the door closes, Jan waves and says “have it”. Hey, you! Do you have thoughts about the case you’ve read, or tips for something we should look into more closely? Please contact!
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The wife feared that Jan would die – so the nursing home brought in another carer
