Despite new opportunities to screen individuals applying for jobs in elderly care, several municipalities have yet to formally implement these procedures. A survey conducted by the National Board of Health and Welfare shows that, as of early April, eight municipalities had not made decisions to carry out record checks. Samnytt can report that the majority of these municipalities are governed by the Social Democrats.

On March 1st, a legislative amendment came into effect that allows municipalities to request excerpts from both the criminal and suspicion registers when recruiting for elderly care. The aim is to strengthen protections for the elderly after several serious cases of sexual abuse and rape within care services have come to light in recent years.

To investigate how municipalities are utilizing this new legal support, the National Board of Health and Welfare was commissioned to conduct a national follow-up. The results show that the majority of municipalities in the country have already implemented or plan to implement these checks, but eight municipalities had yet to make a decision when the survey was conducted.

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When Samnytt reviewed the eight municipalities that, according to the National Board of Health and Welfare’s follow-up, still had not decided to introduce record checks in elderly care, it emerged that the Social Democrats are included in the ruling government in six of them.

This means a clear majority – 75 percent – of the municipalities on the list are led by coalitions where the Social Democrats play a leading role. Only Falköping and Gullspång are governed without Social Democratic participation in the political leadership.

At the same time, several municipalities report that the work has already begun in practice. In Mjölby, procedures have been developed by officials even though no political decision has yet been made.

Härjedalen also notes that the checks are being used, even though the formal decision-making process is not concluded. In Sandviken, the decision regarding criminal record excerpts was made in May.

“Had Hoped…”

Minister for Elderly and Social Insurance, Anna Tenje (M), emphasizes the importance of municipalities making use of the opportunities provided by the law. She believes that security for the elderly must be prioritized and that the checks should be introduced without delay.

– I had hoped that all 290 municipalities would have made a decision and also implemented it. Now we see that some haven’t made a decision and some have made decisions that won’t take effect until the autumn, says Anna Tenje to Expressen.

In addition to the eight municipalities missing a decision, further uncertainty remains regarding a number of municipalities. In total, 55 municipalities did not respond to the National Board of Health and Welfare’s survey, prompting continued reviews to clarify the status of the routines.

Samnytt’s Review Shows

However, the register checks are not seen as a standalone solution. According to the government, they should be combined with careful reference checks, interviews, and clear procedures for handling suspicions of abuse or other offenses.

This is something that Samnytt has highlighted in several investigations, where individuals with extensive criminal records and convictions for serious offenses have been able to obtain work in elderly care. In some cases, employees have used forged criminal record excerpts and thus been able to work for a long time without the misconduct being discovered.

In other cases, employers have failed in their checks or have completely refrained from requesting criminal record excerpts, which has allowed individuals with serious criminal histories to be employed in organizations responsible for the care of the elderly.

The issue may become even stricter in the future. An ongoing government inquiry is considering whether criminal record excerpts should become mandatory for new hires in elderly care. The inquiry is also examining whether employers should be able to request such excerpts from already employed staff.

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