Care home reported after elderly man maltreated

The man lives at a geriatric home in Sandviken in central Sweden.

His daughter, who wishes to remain anonymous to protect her father’s integrity, told local media that Sandviken munipality’s ambitions for geriatric care have been low for too long, making it impossible for the staff to do their jobs properly.

The municipality has now admitted several flaws in the elderly man’s care, and has introduced a plan to rectify these, which his daughter approves of.

“But at the same time I’m concerned about what’s going to happen to all the others in the same situation. I hardly think my father’s the only one,” she said to the local newspaper Arbetarbladet.

“The feeling you get is that these people aren’t considered to be worth anything because they can’t speak for themselves.”

Her father’s teeth had to be pulled out following prolonged poor dental hygiene, and his fingernails were left to grow so long they cut into his skin.

When reporting her father’s inadequate care to the authorities, the daughter listed several other examples of maltreatment and negligence, including poor hygiene, security and nutrition.

“Even though it says in my father’s file that he needs help to eat, I’ve come to visit several times and found him alone with a tray of food that he can’t eat,” she told Arbetarbladet.

“He’s served his community well all these years. Shouldn’t you be able to expect him to be well taken care of when he can’t take care of himself any longer?”