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Lidingö has been badly affected by covid-19 and this spring the municipality created a special department to isolate those infected with covid-19 and limit the spread of the infection in the four nursing homes managed by the municipality. A total of 22 elderly patients with covid were treated in the ward. The most intense period of infection and death ended when elected representatives on the care and social committee at a committee meeting in May received information about covid care from a doctor responsible for Capio Legevisitten, who is responsible for medical efforts. The information prompted Suzanne Liljegren, (left), President of the social committee and committee member, to react.
– He said that decisions about palliative care were made by remote doctors. I thought – “now I heard wrong,” says Suzanne Liljegren.
In response to a direct question, he realized that of the total of eight elderly people who died of COVID-19 in the room, none had been evaluated by an on-site doctor before a decision was made on palliative care. Nor had anyone been referred to the hospital, says Liljegren.
According to the municipality, contact with the medical organization has been made mainly by telephone.
Figures from the National Board of Health and Welfare has recently shown a great variation in the country in the proportion of elderly patients with covid who died in special homes that have received hospital care. Stockholm County stands out with a very low proportion of people referred to hospital, 16%, compared to 90% of the elderly with home care.
Read more: Doctor visits to nursing homes decreased during the pandemic
– It is serious: if people receive home care, they or their relatives can decide whether they should be sent to the hospital. In special housing, it is the doctor who decides, says Suzanne Liljegren.
The municipality is now noticing a clear decrease in the number of places occupied in the municipality’s nursing homes and nursing homes since February.
– People do not dare to say yes to a place for their loved ones, because they fear that they will not send an ambulance.
To be sure of the situation Suzanne Liljegren also spoke to Thomas Lindén at the National Board of Health and Welfare, realizing that a decision on palliative care can only be made remotely in exceptional cases.
In a letter addressed to the region’s special health care directorate, RSSL, on which the Lidingö newspaper was the first to report, Suzanne Liljegren, together with the municipality’s Liberals, requests a statement that all decisions about residents from Lidingö should receive life support care or palliative care should normally be taken by at least one person. doctor on site.
The participation of municipal politicians has been heard at the local level and various retiree organizations have expressed their support, according to Liljegren.
Right in the middle is the Tor senior housing, where those involved in the local tenant association Toringarna follow the question.
“We are completely behind this, it is insurance for us if it becomes relevant,” says Ingvar Mattsson, president of the association.
Ingvar Mattsson, president of the local tenants association, in the middle, Bo Sonesson, left, and Karin Westberg.
Photo: Alexander Mahmoud
He and the other members of the board have supported the demands of the Liberals. All of the residents have reached a respectable age, but they still manage in their own apartments, where some of the residents receive home care.
– I think it is terrible that so many older people who have died have not received a medical evaluation, says Karin Westberg, 85 years old.
But the region does not issue guarantees.
In a reply letter to the liberals Christoffer Bernsköld, unit manager of the medical and health care administration, refers to the guidelines of the National Board of Health and Welfare and writes:
“The doctor must in each individual case make an individualized assessment of whether it is appropriate to carry out the visit to the doctor from a distance or whether the patient’s need for care predicts physical contact. This means that we on the part of the Region will not formulate a requirement with content similar to the one you ask, but we will continue to follow the guidelines issued by the National Board of Health and Welfare ”.
Christoffer Bernsköld tells DN:
– As a region, we cannot go in and guarantee that it will happen in a certain way. It is the doctors and the accommodation staff who decide what is most suitable, says Christoffer Bernsköld.
Suzanne Liljegren is not happy with the answer.
– I perceive that exceptions have become routine. Getting doctors back on the scene should be the norm, according to guidelines from the National Board of Health and Welfare.
Margareta Danelius, Capio Sweden’s chief physician, writes in an email that does not acknowledge the case description:
“Our medical interventions in special housing have been organized on the basis of the guidelines of the National Board of Health and Welfare. Avoiding anything other than the inevitable physical contact has been aimed at safeguarding patient safety by limiting the spread of infection among our frail elderly. “
