During the summer, three care and welfare recipients were subjected to sexual assaults by an employee in home care. These incidents have resulted in the Municipality of Norrköping filing a Lex Sarah report with the Health and Social Care Inspectorate, IVO.

According to the municipality’s investigation, the substitute staff member touched both themselves and the care recipients in an inappropriate manner. When this came to light, the person was immediately suspended and their employment was shortly thereafter terminated.

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The investigation reveals several shortcomings — summer staffing has been strained, documentation inadequate, and routines for incident management have not been followed. Information sharing and division of responsibility between the relevant unit managers have also not functioned properly.

Police Report

The assaults have been reported to the police and the municipality is now implementing several measures to strengthen operational routines. These include reviewing the possibility of requiring background checks from the criminal records registry for work in elderly care, with a proposal to be presented to the municipal executive board on January 12.

Efforts will also be made to ensure that incidents are reported, followed up and handled in accordance with applicable routines, to increase staff understanding of documentation and how it should be reviewed, and to improve handling of serious incidents, particularly during handovers between unit managers.

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