Danish Ministry clears municipality in Isabell Jensen death case

The Danish Social Ministry has cleared Frederikshavn Municipality of wrongdoing regarding the death of 26-year-old Isabell Clara Jensen. Jensen, who had a brain injury, drowned in a lake last November while staying at the Østruplund residential facility on Nordfyn.

Although Jensen had been granted a 1:1 personal night shift due to the known risk of her wandering off, no individual night guard was present on the night of her death. The Ministry stated that the absence of the guard was due to a 'concrete professional assessment of the citizen's well-being and needs' made by the facility itself. The Ministry noted that the facility had the option to call for the individual night shift that had been approved.

Following a parliamentary consultation, Social Minister Monica Rubin faced criticism from the family of the deceased and politicians. Jensen's sisters, Johanne Berg and Stine Jensen, expressed that the Minister's answers left them with unanswered questions. Katrine Daugaard of the Liberal Alliance also criticized the responses, describing them as insufficient in addressing how to prevent similar deaths of vulnerable citizens in residential care.