82-year-old left by home care in her own excrement – had to have leg amputated

Despite having home care, Rose-Marie Lagerqvist did not shower for several months and relieved herself directly on the couch at home. The situation got so bad that she had to have a leg amputated. Today, her daughter is strongly critical of Attendo.

After a previous accident, Rose-Marie Lagerqvist suffers from osteoarthritis throughout her body and carpal tunnel syndrome with loss of sensation in her hands. Until September last year, she lived in her own apartment in Gustavsberg, but eventually it was no longer possible. She recently moved to the special housing Gustavsgården.

In the apartment, she received help from the private care company Attendo Home Care Värmdö with things like making the bed, emptying a mobile commode, breakfast, laundry every other week, and cleaning every third week. There was a visit in the morning and one in the afternoon included. She did not want help with showering as it felt embarrassing.

Her daughter Marie has 20 years of experience working in elderly care and told Allas that it is common for elderly people to decline help with showering as it is an intimate situation and perhaps the staff is someone they don’t know well.

In August last year, the daughter noticed that her mother had developed a yeast infection under her breasts, and it turned out she hadn’t showered or changed socks in several months. A few days after the visit, the daughter called the home care and asked for help.

– On September 5, I get a call from home care. They have discovered a wound on my mother’s leg and have contacted the home health care. They were supposed to come Monday, September 9, at the same time as the needs assessor was scheduled to arrive.

Soon after, her father called.

– He says: “I spoke to mom. She sounds strange. She doesn’t have the strength to talk, so we hung up. I’m really worried. Please, can’t you go there?”

Horrible smell

When she arrives, she notices a horrible smell which she recognizes – rotting wounds. Her mother is sitting on the couch, barely responsive, wrapped in a blanket, with legs covered in ooze and fluids from wounds. The socks hadn’t been changed for months.

The mother also had a yeast infection all over her stomach down to her legs and third-degree sacral wounds – wounds all over her genital area – after sitting in her own urine for ten days. The ambulance staff had to give her morphine because she was in so much pain. If she had not been taken to the hospital in time, they believe she would have died.

One of her toes had suffered tissue death, and a few days later doctors decided Rose-Marie’s right leg had to be amputated.

Word against word

Today, both mother and daughter are strongly critical of Attendo home care and have filed a complaint with the Health and Social Care Inspectorate, Ivo.

– I was there on August 26. On August 27, they documented that she hadn’t been in bed for three days. On August 30, they documented that mom wanted help to wash her hair, that she tried to stand by the table but it was too painful and she was too weak to walk, so they sat her down again.

– For ten days, she hadn’t been able to move from the couch, yet she was left alone from the afternoon until the next day in the morning, 19 hours, without anyone checking on her.

The home care’s own investigation according to the Lex Sarah law shows that it is word against word.

“Home care staff have routines to act if they notice a person’s general condition deteriorating, for example by contacting the responsible caregiver, or calling 112 if needed,” wrote the municipality’s press officer Anette Niska-Andersson in an email to Allas.