No neglect

Expert opinion exonerates the Harder nursing home

The nursing home in Hard was recently confronted with serious allegations. However, these have not yet been substantiated.

(Bild: Mathis Fotografie)

Nursing home operator SeneCura is defending itself against the allegations of neglect that were made after the death of an 89-year-old resident. There had been no malpractice in the Harder home.

The case has caused a stir: following the death of an 89-year-old in a SeneCura care home in Vorarlberg in August 2022, his relatives made serious allegations public a few weeks ago via the "Dossier" research platform. According to the report, the 89-year-old is said to have lost 15 kilograms within three months and weighed just 46 kilograms. The senior citizen had previously become a care case following heart surgery and the onset of dementia.

He moved into the nursing home in April 2022. His sons had quickly noticed his father's rapid weight loss, but the home had not responded to the relevant information. After just a few weeks in the facility, the man also had to undergo surgery for a bedsore (decubitus ulcer).

Independent expert
Official experts and a care lawyer have investigated the facts of the case, while Katharina Wiesflecker (Greens), member of the provincial council for social affairs, has also appointed an independent expert commission to counter allegations of a cover-up. And now SeneCura itself is also presenting two expert reports that the company commissioned from two independent experts. Both Hans Jürgen Heppner, Chair of Geriatrics at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, and Jürgen Osterbrink from the Institute of Nursing Science at the Paracelsus Private University in Salzburg confirm that there was no evidence of neglect on the part of the man.

Emotional reactions are understandable when a seriously ill person stops eating, for example. Our employees on site are also trained to deal with these situations and are affected by accusations of serious care errors. It is therefore all the more important that their daily work is not only considered to be of high quality by the patients and their relatives, but now also by the experts.

Daniel Siegl, SeneCura-Regionaldirektor Tirol/Vorarlberg

According to Osterbrink, "the accusations made by relatives are incomprehensible" and the care can be "described as being carried out with care and diligence." There were only some gaps in the documentation. Among other things, Heppner refers to progressive dementia as the cause of severe weight loss. It is no longer possible to determine where the alleged pressure ulcer occurred - in any case, according to the documentation, the wound treatment was carried out in accordance with the indications.

SeneCura Managing Director Anton Kellner sees his company exonerated: "The central accusation of neglect is clearly denied in both expert reports."