– A societal problem – NRK Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
– Psychiatry wants volunteer patients who can be treated quickly. I think this is a huge problem for society, Rosenqvist continues.
She was a guest Dagsnytt 18 Friday night together with, among others, Minister of Health and Care Services Ingvild Kjerkol (Labor Party).
Kongsberg accused Espen Andersen Bråthen is now being assessed by experts to find out if he is sane.
– One must realize that some patients do not recover for weeks or months in psychiatry, but who need long-term care, even under duress, Rosenqvist says.
She also criticizes attitudes that coercion in psychiatry is “horrible”.
– The ideology that has been around for the last twenty years, that coercion in psychiatry is horrible and that everything should be voluntary, it has been destroyed for some people who do not have autonomy to consent to their own investigation and treatment. We have in a way failed the worst performing, says Rosenqvist.
NRK reported today on PST already in 2015 received the first warning about Kongsberg accused. In 2018, they notified the health service that the man was dangerous, and say it must be investigated how it was followed up. PST has had “major psychological challenges”.
The police believe the suspicion that it was psychiatry that was behind the mass murder on Kongsberg has been strengthened. The 37-year-old acknowledges the facts, but has not taken a position on criminal guilt. The police put this in connection with the mental health condition.
Kjerkol: The health service is not good enough
Minister of Health Ingvild Kjerkol acknowledges that the health services in Norway are not good enough to deal with patients who can be dangerous.
Minister of Health and Care Services (Labor Party) Ingvild Kjerkol.
Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB
She believes the dialogue with the police must be looked at.
– On a more independent basis, we have reason to look at the seriously ill, who can be dangerous to their surroundings. The health service there is not good enough today, it has been documented through other cases and other documentation, says Kjerkol in Dagsnytt 18.
– I very much agree with what Rosenqvist says, and there will be people who need long-term follow-up and who will have a worse prospect of being able to finish their mental illness. We have to take a closer look at this, says Kjerkol.
The police outside the grocery store where the accused was first confronted by the police on Wednesday this week. He escaped after firing arrows at police.
Photo: Cicilie S. Andersen / NRK
– Failure between the health service and the police
National leader in Mental Health, Jill Arild reacts strongly to the fact that the perpetrator in Kongsberg was not caught earlier.
– Because that is exactly what we work for, that the systems should work and here there is a clear system failure. It is general and tragic, but will also use the opportunity to take Mental Health in Kongsberg which has opened its doors and has received those who need that support, says Arild.
She believes there is a failure when it comes to dealing between the police and the health service.
– No further risk assessments can be made in this case is quite worrying, says Arild.
– Is it the case that the police tamper with the case as soon as they have reported the case to the health service? These are questions that are a bit important to ask in this context, she says.
The Minister of Health is confronted with statements to Arild.
– Is there a system failure between the health service and the police?
– It is a description that I think Mental Health has coverage for. That is also the reason why I have talked to the Minister of Justice about the fact that there are unresolved needs. We must develop services and look at responsibility between the police and the health service for the most demanding cases, says Kjerkol.
On Wednesday, five people were killed and three injured on Kongsberg. 37-year-old Espen Andersen Bråthen is charged with the attack. Picture of the area where the killings at Kongsberg took place.
