(This is an english translation of the following NRK article: 21-åring ble beltelagt i seks uker etter at kommunal bolig ble stengt – NRK Oslo og Viken – Lokale nyheter, TV og radio)

The man was put in the hospital when the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority closed the municipal housing.

In this bed, the 21-year-old laid naked for 40 days straight. Halden municipality and Østfold Hospital say that they had nowhere else to put him.

Amalie Fagerhaug Evjen, Journalist

We report from Halden

Published 10 Sep at 13:02 Updated 10 Sep at 14:01

– It was like watching him fade away, says Lydia.

For 40 days, her 21-year-old little brother was strapped to a bed at Østfold Hospital.

The straps around his torso, arms and feet were occasionally loosened. But the belts were never completely removed, and he was never allowed to leave the bed.

The 14th of june, the 21 year old was restrained in the hospital

– It was completely wrong and heartbreaking to see him there, says Lydia.

For the sake of the little brother, who has autism and is mentally disabled, the family does not want NRK to use their surname.

The 21-year-old man was moved to the hospital when the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority closed down his municipal housing  in Halden.

In the hospital, he was left naked and belted around the clock.

It was Halden Arbeiderblad who first mentioned the case.

The home closed down

The man has had assistance measures from Halden municipality since he was four years old. The 21-year-old can eat and go to the toilet by himself, but has a great need for help. He needs round-the-clock supervision. 

In May, the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority received a notice of an occupational accident in the man’s home. Shortly afterwards, they demanded immediate measures because of the danger to the employees’ life and health. 

The municipality was unable to implement the measures, and the home was closed down. 

The same day, the 21-year-old was moved to the security section at Østfold Hospital. Halden municipality says there was no other alternative. 

– There was an imminent and serious danger to the user’s life and health when the user’s home was closed by the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority. That is the reason for the admission at Sykehuset Østfold (Østfold Hospital), says the municipal superintendent Kjersti Gjøsund. 

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Why the Norwegian Arbeidstilsynet closed the home:

It is stated in a report that the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority found out the following after inspecting the 21-year-old’s home:

The home was not adapted and designed to ensure the safety of the workers. 

The department struggles to recruit the right competencies. A large proportion of the workers are unskilled. 

For some workers it’s their first job. It was stated that employees as low as the age of 18 have worked in the home. 

The Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority perceives that not all employees have undergone training and practice before being put to work in the home. 

The department struggles to put together good teams. The Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority perceives that there are no routines for how teams should be put together on each shift. 

Employees at work must find suitable substitutes in the event of sick leave themselves.

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Had to defecate in bed 

The department at the hospital is reserved for psychotic patients and people sentenced to compulsory mental health care. 

– He is not mentally ill. He is autistic and mentally disabled with a great need for help, says older sister Lydia. 

To be placed in the security section, a referral from an external doctor from the home municipality is required. A doctor at the hospital must also assess that the conditions for mental health care have been met. 

But in this case, the control commission at Sykehuset Østfold has concluded that the conditions for compulsory mental health care were not met. Nevertheless, the 21-year-old lay strapped to bed for almost six weeks, without being able to get up. 

According to the family, he was barely able to eat his own food. In addition, he had to defecate in bed. 

– He has been treated as if he was not worth anything. I got a feeling of elimination. We just sat there without being able to help. He cried a lot and said he wanted to go home, says Lydia. 

Researcher: – In violation of the prohibition on torture 

– This is the most serious treatment he can be exposed to, apart from losing his life, says Marius Storvik. 

He is a researcher on coercive measures in psychiatry and an associate professor at the University of Tromsø. He says it is difficult to find a strong enough characterization of the case. 

– The 21-year-old has been subjected to treatment which must be legally characterized as inhuman or degrading, and which is in breach of the prohibition of torture. 

Marius Storvik to NRK. He is an associate professor at the Faculty of Law at the University of Tromsø. Researcher Marius Storvik believes that the case of the 21-year-old illustrates that the legislation sets up a practice in Norway that conflicts with the human rights court. 

Storvik points out that both the municipality and the hospital have broken the law. 

– The municipality is breaking the law because they have not prepared a professionally sound offer. The hospital breaks the regulations because they admit a person and forcibly admit him without legal authority to do so, and illegally place him in a belted bed for six weeks. 

Halden municipality: – A difficult case 

Halden municipality believes that they have implemented many measures over a long period, but that it was not enough. The director of health promotion and well-being, Veronica Aam, writes in an email to NRK that they have repeatedly searched for professional personnel without receiving enough applicants. 

– There have been no restrictions on the use of resources in this case, however this has still  been a difficult case. We have challenges in recruiting healthcare workers and social workers. 

However, the family believes that the municipality has not done enough. 

– We are aware that he acts out and is demanding, but he is also very kind, funny and considerate. I pay tribute to the employees who have done their best, but I think this could have been avoided if Halden municipality had introduced more measures sooner, says mother Eva. 

The lawyer for the 21-year-old calls it all an abdication of responsibility on the part of the municipality. 

– I think it is unsustainable for the municipality to drive him to the hospital to get rid of him. He is not a mentally ill patient and had no business being there, says Hans Henrik Pettersen, his lawyer. 

Halden municipality will not comment on the admission of the 21-year-old, but says that the case also affects them. 

– I fully understand that this has been an extremely demanding situation for the family. I am sorry that we as a healthcare system have not been able to solve this in a better way, says Aam. 

– A gross and grotesque example 

Researcher Marius Storvik has never heard of a similar case. – This is a gross and grotesque example. The time period is so far outside of any of the cases that have been dealt with by the Human Rights Court in the past.

Østfold Hospital did not want to be interviewed by NRK in this case, but has answered questions by email. 

The 21 year old lies restrained in the hospital

(The video above is not from the NRK article due to copyright laws. We received this private video from the family and use it with their approval)

Clinic manager Andreas Joner writes that the hospital agrees that they do not have a good offer for such a patient, but that there was no other alternative. 

The hospital also agrees that the use of restraints that were used is both legally and ethically challenging, but still believes that extensive restraint was necessary in this case. 

– Other less invasive measures, such as belts released from the bed, were considered to be obviously futile or insufficient. 

Is back in municipal housing 

The hospital believes the case is an illustration that society lacks a framework for looking after the most demanding patients. They regret that they have found themselves in a situation where the control commission has assessed that the coercive use had the wrong legal basis, but believes that this does not mean that the coercive use can cease. The hospital will now have a review of the case. 

Halden municipality has requested the regional governor to conduct an assessment of what the municipality could have done differently. 

– We will do what we can to avoid similar situations in the future, says director Aam. 

The 21-year-old was moved from the hospital July 24th. He is now back in the home in Halden, which has been extended. 

In the long term, the municipality will build a new and better home. 

However, the family believes that the belt restraint caused lasting wounds.

– He has deteriorated since the incident. It has been a difficult fight and he cannot speak for himself. Therefore, it is our duty to be his voice. We will make sure he gets justice. I know he would do the same for me, says his sister Lydia.