B.C.'s Ombudsperson is surprised the provincial government is only implementing four of her 10 recommendations in the first of two reports she is issuing on seniors in residential care.
"I would have thought these are really good, straightforward foundation things that would not have been difficult not only to say yes to but to put in place. I genuinely believe they would make a positive difference," Kim Carter said in a telephone interview from Victoria.
In the report released Thursday, Carter calls for a bill of rights for seniors in residential care that should be displayed prominently in every building affected by March 31, 2010.
She said the two provincial health ministries agreed to the bill of rights, but would only say they would accept the intent of six others that Carter believes are important to fulfilling that bill of rights.
"My concern is the bill of rights is a positive step. But without information and reporting, it won't make the difference it could," she said.
"There are things in it that I would hope, if implemented, would help reduce the chance of things going horribly wrong."
When asked if last year's freezing death of 84-year-old Juliette Bombardier at Pine Grove Care Centre was behind some of the recommendations, Carter said she had many cases in mind when writing the report.
"You'll appreciate that we don't identify particular incidents. But we have visited about 50 residential care and assisted living facilities around the province, 600 questionnaires, 40 groups (unions, health-care providers), and we have heard about that incident you refer to as well as others."
The report focuses on residential-care facilities because that's where the most vulnerable seniors are, with a high proportion suffering from dementia and others being physically frail.
Among those six recommendations the province is balking at is one that calls for a single provincial website that includes detailed information about all of B.C.'s residential care facilities.
Carter said people are asked to make quick decisions about whether to accept a place in a care facility. She wants to see the website to include the information needed to help people make those choices.
"We recommended a comprehensive website with a long list of what we think should be on there, based on problems people come to us about," said Carter.
"But there also needs to be monitoring and enforcement. It's good to have the piece of paper, but to make it a living document, you need to have monitoring and enforcement. And public reporting of that."
Carter said it's unfortunate the province didn't commit to including all the information on the website that her report suggested.
"The concerns I have with that is, if you can do this, or that, you lose the consistency and being able to compare. That's what really makes that valuable."
Other points that she felt the province disregarded included public reporting of the results of monitoring and evaluation, creation of a ministerial position to support resident and family councils and support for regional family council organizations.
Carter said now that her report is out, it's up to individuals and interested groups to encourage the government to fully implement the recommendations.
"It really is over to the public now."
