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Representatives from the Swedish Health and Care Inspectorate, Sahlgrenska University Hospital and Swedish city councils and county councils sit side by side on the stage of the Swedish Fair in Gothenburg. During the conference, which takes place at the end of August, participants have just over an hour to summarize the five months that have passed since the new corona virus arrived in Sweden.
Åsa Furén Thulin, The head of social services in Sweden’s municipalities and regions, SKR, says caring for the elderly received harsh undeserved criticism during the pandemic.
– I want to start by saying that this is a profession that really deserves to be educated. They have done everything they could, he says.
But Åsa Furén Thulin wished the staff could do more. On several occasions during the spring, the municipalities and regions of Sweden, SKR, have sent the so-called petitions to the government, demanding changes in the rules in the area of social services.
At the end of April SKR proposed a regulation focused on stopping the spread of infection in homes with dementia. Among other things, they wanted to give staff the opportunity to lock rooms and rooms where staff were staying together with residents suspected of being carriers of the COVID-19 infection.
The government said no, referring to the constitutionally protected rights of residents. Those who live in a nursing home or a dementia home have the same rights as those who live in any other home. According to the Social Services Law, no restrictive measures can be taken without the consent of the person. In practice, this has meant that people with dementia with Covid-19, who did not understand they were infected, had the right to move freely in their homes during the pandemic.
Hanne Rönnback, operations manager at Stureby’s nursing and nursing home, says she is proud of the hard work she and her employees put in during the pandemic.
Photo: Magnus Hallgren
At Stureby Nursing Home and Nursing Home In Stockholm, home to 90 people with dementia, staff have been monitoring people who have had a confirmed or suspected COVID-19 infection throughout the day.
– He has become a point guard. We have assigned a person who has had constant supervision, 24 hours, so that the infected person does not leave their apartment. If the person has left, work has been done to divert them and motivate them to return to the apartment. We can never force anyone, says Hanne Rönnback, operations manager at the accommodation.
She says that the debate during the pandemic has shown that many people have a wrong image of what the Social Services Act is like, to which the care of the elderly is subject.
– We were expected to become a hospital. It’s not possible. A nursing home is like any other home: it is the self-determination of the individual that governs our work.
Stureby Care and Nursing Home has had three confirmed cases of covid-19 among residents. Two people, both with underlying illnesses, have died. The third has recovered.
Hanne Rönnback believes that fewer people in the country’s dementia homes would have gotten sick if the government had approved the SKR proposal.
– With us, spot surveillance has worked, but I think the spread of infection in some households could have been less if restrictive measures had been taken, says Hanne Rönnback.
The curfew has been difficult for residents and families alike to handle, says Hanne Rönnback. – We have received many calls from relatives who think that it is hard that their mother or father is getting worse and that they cannot be there.
Photo: Magnus Hallgren
In relation to the government’s rejection of SKR’s proposed measures, they asked the Swedish Public Health Agency and the National Board of Health and Welfare to investigate the need for regulations to limit the risk of spreading the infection in certain activities to older people and people with disabilities. The result will be presented on September 30.
Then it’s gone SKR submitted its application a long time ago, says Åsa Furén Thulin, who believes that caring for the elderly has received harsh criticism and insufficient support during the pandemic.
– The government has defrauded social services. In all other areas, it has been possible to change the legislation in a pleasant and fast way. In social services, there is something that makes them not want.
The Minister of Social Affairs, Lena Hallengren (S), writes in an email to DN that the Ministry of Social Affairs, due to the request of SKR, has held, among other things, conversations with the Swedish Center for Dementia and Control of Stockholm infections.
“The purpose has been to try to find a passable path that corresponds to the need that SKR raises in the petition. However, the assessment is that SKR’s proposal for a legal solution cannot be implemented, “he writes.
The Swedish Public Health Agency and the National Board of Health and Welfare, which is now investigating the issue of possible restrictive measures, for a close dialogue with SKR, continues the Minister of Social Affairs.
“The issue is very complex, since it refers to the constitutionally protected rights of the elderly,” he writes.
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