Source: Canwest News Service
Seniors have a right to know the level of care they're entitled to in residential care, which facility would suit them best, and their families have a right to help them, says a new report from the B.C. Ombudsperson.
The 60-page report released Thursday made 10 recommendations to government, three identified as key: - A bill of rights for seniors in residential care should be created and posted prominently in all care facilities by March 2010. - A single provincial website containing comprehensive information on residential care and the performances of various facilities should be built by Sept. 30, 2010. - There should be an expanded role for councils made up of care-facility residents and their families, as well as support for creating regional resident/ family councils.
The report comes after B.C. Ombudsperson Kim Carter launched an investigation into the care of seniors in August of 2008.
A Vancouver Sun series in June 2008 revealed that nearly one in nine long-term seniors care facilities in the Lower Mainland were classified as "high risk" by government inspectors. High-risk facilities are those considered by health authorities most likely to violate government health and safety regulations and are subject to more frequent inspections.
The series included a searchable database of Lower Mainland care facilities and their ratings -- low, medium or high risk -- which can still be found online at vancouversun.com/care.
Carter said the government has moved on four of her recommendations with a legislative amendment to create a residents' bill of rights. But it has only agreed to satisfy the "intent" of six of the recommendations.
For example, it agreed only with the intent of the recommendation on a single comprehensive website on residential care facilities and committed itself instead to building on existing resources.
In a telephone interview, Carter drew attention to the confusing complexity of government layers responsible for residential care facilities in B.C.
Residential care is overseen by two ministries, the Ministry of Health Services and the Ministry of Healthy Living and Sport. It's governed by two acts of the legislature, the Hospital Act and the Community Care Facility Act. And the regional health authorities are also called upon to administer the facilities.
"That is a whole bunch of fingers," said Carter.
"But the more complexity you have -- two ministries, two pieces of legislation, different standards -- the more of an obligation you have to be very clear with people."
Clara Halber, president of Greater Victoria Seniors, welcomed the report enthusiastically. She said she and others had been after government to enact some of the ombudsperson's recommendations for years. "For the first time we have something."
Halber said she has been pitching for family councils, for example, for years. Families should have a role to help seniors make decisions on residential care.
"[Seniors] are not looking for a palace to live in," she said. "They are looking for a place where the food is good and there is enough staff to take care of them."
NDP health critic Adrian Dix said the B.C. Liberals violated their own commitments made in the last provincial election campaign to provide information on residential care on a single website.
Dix noted Statistics Canada has said that B.C. provides the least number of hours of staff time per resident of a care facility of all provinces in Canada.
"Surely we have the capacity to have equal care standards, with our economy, to sustain equal care standards with .... New Brunswick," said Dix.
But Health Services Minister Kevin Falcon said the Statistics Canada information doesn't tell the entire story.
It fails to take into account B.C. hospitals, with their long-term care beds, which care for some of the most frail elderly.
Falcon said the government is still committed to meeting its pledge to provide good information on residential care and good Internet access to it.
But the plan calls for a single, Internet "portal" which can link seniors and their families to all the information on offer with the wide variety of agencies.
"I'm not a website builder but I understand when you do something like that it's not a super easy thing to do, and we will have it in place by the fall of next year," said Falcon.
Carter is planning to release a longer, more comprehensive report on residential care in B.C. next spring.
The current report can be viewed at www.ombudsman.bc.ca.
