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– It was tough. Not just that day. It has been a feeling that you have had to struggle to reach your mother and sit with her.
That’s what Turid Knapper, one of the 12 brothers who lost his mother on Saturday, says. He meets NRK together with his brother Thorleif Baltzersen.
On the table in front of them is a photo of their mother Ingrid Baltzersen and father Aksel, who passed away in October of last year. Two lit candles flicker in front of the photograph.
I didn’t say goodbye
Three of the brothers cared for their dying mother at the Moer nursing home in Ås on Saturday. Two were there during the day and a sister came to be there at night. Then came the message that the mother was last. The three of them wanted to be in the room with their mother, but the sister would not let them in.
Ingrid Sofie Baltzersen died at the age of 85 in the Moer nursing home in Ås.
Photo: Kristin Grønning / NRK
– My sister was not allowed to enter. She stood outside crying for 20 minutes. It was so rigid that there should only be two in the room, says Thorleif Baltzersen.
Finally, she chose to leave so her sister could enter. Upon entering, his mother dies.
– He did not experience exactly when his mother died, says Baltzersen.
Siblings understand that rules are needed during a pandemic, and especially in a nursing home. But they believe there would be room for siblings and staff at the time of death. The mother was alone in a double room.
Moer nursing home in Ås municipality: Patient ombudsman believes that the nursing home interprets infection control rules too strictly in situations where a patient is dying.
Photo: Jon Gimmingsrud / NRK
More strict than others
– Unfortunately, this is a case that we know very well. This is not the first time we have heard of similar cases in Ås municipality, says Anne Lise Kristensen, patient and user advocate.
– The municipality of Ås has a practice that differs from other municipalities with which we are in contact.
She understands well that relatives despair when they tell what they have experienced.
– NIPH, the Directorate of Health and the Ministry of Health agree that we must open as much as possible in health centers, hospitals and nursing homes.
Ombud patient and user Anne Lise Kristiansen says cases that appear in the media should be used as a lever to achieve the same practice for others in the same situation.
Photo: Hanna Seferowicz / NRK
Kristensen says he has spoken to patient ombudsmen in the rest of the country. So far, there are not many similar cases elsewhere.
On Tuesday, NRK recounted the story that only three out of four siblings were allowed to visit their father, who is in the terminal mail at Akershus University Hospital. On Wednesday, the hospital management gave the four permission to visit the father.
– There have been a few more cases in the capital area. It is very rare that we hear stories like Ås and Ahus. Now the latter has been resolved, Kristensen says.
With those closest to him around
– Regardless of the infection situation, you must be with your loved ones on death row. I cannot enter to make an assessment in a single case. But I am very clear that you have to have wise considerations and talk with those interested and find solutions. This is what Health Minister Bent Høie says.
Health Minister Bent Høie says they have met with county governors against municipalities to clarify how to facilitate visits to nursing homes and of course they could be with close relatives on the deathbed.
Photograph: Stian Lysberg Solum / Stian Lysberg Solum
He believes that in most cases solutions can be found in a difficult situation.
– I fully understand that it is difficult for those who work in an institution and have responsibilities. But in such situations good solutions must be found. They just have to talk to each other.
Høie says that if someone needs help, the patient advocate is someone who can help in dialogue with stakeholders.
I dialogue
The municipality of Ås has already been in dialogue with the patient ombudsman on Wednesday.
– We take all feedback very seriously. Already on Thursday, we will have a meeting where we reconsider this, says the municipal manager of health and coping in the municipality of Ås, Tove Kreppen Jørgensen to NRK.
Jørgensen wrote this in an SMS to NRK on Wednesday:
“Patients and family members who are involved when life comes to an end are in a vulnerable situation. The crown era we’re in, with infection control considerations, makes this even more challenging. In the municipality of Ås we care about having a good dialogue, so individual assessments are always made based on conversations with relatives and the situation around the dying person. Our routines are for continuous evaluation based on the guidelines of the authorities and the infection picture in Ås and surrounding municipalities. “
