The Patient Board of the Stockholm Region has received four notifications from patients who are incorrectly registered as deceased in the register of population records. In three of the four cases, the error was committed by the same care provider.
“The Patient Board finds it very serious that patients are wrongly declared dead. Of course, this entails considerable inconvenience and psychological impact, even for those close to it, ”says Marie Ljungberg Schött (M), chair of the patient board, in a press release.
Mixed people togetherThat it could have gone wrong depends on the human factor. In one of these cases, the doctor has mixed up two similar surnames.
- It is simply that the doctors have sent the wrong personal identification number to the Swedish Tax Agency, says Johan Karlsson.
The patient board meets on Tuesday to discuss solutions to the problem.
- We want answers to the measures to be taken to reduce the risk of this happening again.
But the problem is more extensive than the four cases in Stockholm. Statistics from the Swedish Tax Agency show that there have been 14 incidents so far this year across the country.
Banking is disappearingAfter a death certificate has been issued, the deceased's access to banking services disappears. Driving licenses and e-credentials become invalid, any debt restructuring is canceled and insurance is terminated. One of those affected was seriously ill with cancer and was unable to get his medication prescribed.
Despite the injury suffered by the patients, the care provider has only chosen to pay compensation to one of the four victims in the Stockholm region.
Anyone who is wrongly declared dead is usually entitled to compensation. If a Swedish authority commits the error, the state will be obliged to pay damages of SEK 10,000–30,000 to the victim. The regulations also apply to caregivers, but are not applied correctly, believes Johan Karlsson.
- We want there to be clear messages for the caregivers that if they make such a mistake, there must be compensation, he says.