– I think they want as little publicity surrounding this tragedy as possible. That’s what Gro Standnes says to news. She is head of the supervisory committee for Paulus nursing home and Lilleborg health center in Oslo. Through several cases, news has put the spotlight on nursing homes in Oslo, where relatives and patients believe there is gross neglect of care. One of the cases news has discussed is about demented Randi (85). On the evening of 7 December last year, she was sent from Diakonhjemmet hospital to Lilleborg health center with Patient Travel. It is still unclear what happened after Randi left the taxi, but the next morning she is found dead close to a farm in Ullevålseterveien. It is approximately 10 kilometers away from Lilleborg Health Centre. – It would be a sin of omission if we were not to get hold of such a serious matter, says Standnes. Gro Standnes is head of the supervisory committee for Paulus nursing home and Lilleborg health center in Oslo. Photo: Truls Antonsen / news – It is not appropriate to hold a meeting, therefore Standnes called in Lilleborg health center to a supervisory meeting. Here, the supervisory committee asked for “an explanation of the course of the case and what measures have been put in place to prevent recurrence”. The following day, the health center proposed a concrete date for the meeting. But then Standnes received an e-mail from the Nursing Home Agency, where they referred to the call for a supervisory meeting. There, the agency indicated, among other things, that the case was under investigation by the police and an investigation by the State Administrator in Oslo and Viken. “The Nursing Home Agency therefore considers that it is not relevant to hold a meeting on the matter at the present time,” wrote Mona Kjekshus on behalf of the Nursing Home Agency. The agency therefore chose to cancel the meeting, which was to have been held on 20 January. “Our account of the case has been described in the media, and we have no further information at this time,” the email states. Standnes points out that the Nursing Home Agency does not have the authority to stop meetings of the supervisory committee. – We must be free and independent, says Standnes, before she adds: – If it had been the case that they could stop meetings, the inspections would have been completely pointless. Then the superior agency could sit and dictate what should be published in public. The director attended the inspection. Standnes therefore replied that she, as manager, would uphold the call and carry out the meeting. The day before the supervisory meetings, the supervisor received an e-mail from the Nursing Home Agency. It stated, among other things, that the committee was welcome to Lilleborg health center the following day. “After the political leadership has been in contact with the head of BU in the district of Grünerløkka, it must be clarified that the case from 7 December, to which reference is made, will not be explained and cannot be discussed,” Kjekshus wrote. At the supervisory meeting the following day, the regional director of the Nursing Home Agency, Johnny Jakobsen, also appeared. It has never happened before that an area director has attended an inspection, Standnes claims. – I think that was striking in terms of the prehistory, says Standnes. – What did you learn about the incident on 7 December during the supervisory meeting? – Nothing. – Why? – I think that is perhaps due to the presence and presence of the director. He was in the meeting, and every time we brought up the topic of the incident that day, he expressed signs that we were now moving over the border, she replies. – So when you asked specific questions about the incident, did he react? – Yes, and of course that may have put some restraint on the head of the institution and the quality manager at Lilleborg health center, who were present, says Standnes. At around 17:40 on 7 December, Randi was discharged at Lilleborg health centre. The morning after, on 8 December, she is found dead here – in Ullevålseterveien. She is found by Tor Arild Albrigtsen around 09.15, approximately 10 kilometers north-west from Lilleborg health centre. Defends the handling Director of the nursing home agency, Jonny Jakobsen, apologizes for the communication ahead of the meeting and says that it was not the intention to cancel the meeting. He nevertheless defends that the specific case could not be discussed. – That case is under police investigation and we cannot go into it further in this type of meeting. It is also with the State Administrator and we do not want to interfere in that. – You have given information to the State Administrator, who also carries out supervision. Why could this matter not be discussed by the supervisory committee, which supervises the health centres? – The state administrator also exercises supervision and they have a claim to that information. In this case, we believed that this was not the right thing to discuss with the supervisory committee. – The supervisory committee feels constrained in this matter. What do you say to that? – We are of course sorry if they feel stifled, but I feel that we had a good dialogue in the meeting. – Was prevented All reports from the supervisory committee are public. – We see this as an attempt to gag, and the entire supervisory committee agrees with this, she says. She finds the supervisory meetings difficult, and says that they did not get to touch on the incident as thoroughly as they would have done otherwise. – We were prevented. Now they were more modest than they usually are with information, she says.
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Thinks the Nursing Home Agency tried to stop supervision after demented Randi died – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
