Pensioner fell and was left bleeding but home care ignored

An elderly man receiving home care in Partille municipality died shortly after being found bloody and severely injured in his home following a fall. The incident has now been reported and the actions of the home care staff will be investigated.

It was one evening at the end of June when the man fell in his home. However, the management of the home care service did not learn about the incident until several days later, when the man’s son contacted the responsible manager of the service and explained what had happened.

According to the investigation, the situation came to light when the son received a call from his father’s phone. When he answered, he only heard background noises and suspected the call had been accidentally made by someone from the home care staff. Sensing that something was wrong, the son went immediately to the residence.

Upon arrival, the son encountered a serious situation. His father was lying in bed with blood on his face and a damp shirt. The son then contacted the home care service’s emergency phone to get information on what had happened.

Staff then explained that a supervision visit had been carried out earlier that same day. Two home care employees had been with the man after he fell and helped him get back up. The incident was also documented in a deviation report.

Despite the home visit, the pensioner was left alone in his home, in a seriously distressed state and bleeding. The son therefore sought clarity on how his father could have been left behind in the home given his critical condition. The son then chose to stay with his father, who died later that evening.

Responsible manager: “Will be further investigated”

After the death, a Lex Sarah report was filed by the home care unit manager Rebecca Ekholm. She describes the incident as serious and says such a report is always made when there is suspicion of a serious misconduct.

– I assessed it as serious when I received it. Our procedure is then to file a report according to Lex Sarah. We always do this in serious incidents, said Rebecca Ekholm to GP.

The unit manager stands by the statement that staff had been on site and that the municipality’s primary care had been contacted. A nurse was also said to have followed up on the incident with a visit to the man. But despite this, the pensioner was found with blood on his face and died shortly thereafter.

The municipality will now continue its investigation to assess whether there are aspects of its procedures that need improvement.

Wheelchair user left for hours

A similar incident recently occurred in Ronneby, where a wheelchair-bound person was left alone in the shower for over three hours following a home care mistake.

According to the municipality’s investigation, staff had helped the person into the shower and were supposed to return to assist further. However, no return visit occurred and the care recipient was left in the shower.

It was only when the next work shift began and new employees arrived at the residence that the situation was discovered. During the intervening time, the person had tried to get out of the shower on their own and later reported that the warmth in the bathroom had made them feel close to fainting.

The municipality’s preliminary inquiry shows that poor communication between staff may have contributed to the incident. The fact that several substitutes were working during the holiday period may also have impacted the situation, reports SR.

Ronneby municipality has now reported the incident in accordance with Lex Sarah and will review its routines to prevent similar situations from occurring again.