According to FIQ-SPSCE, the solution lies in a quota law. We’ve been talking about this for more than 10 years. The benefits have been proven. It would protect our patients, it would protect the population, it would protect our members, because Stéphanie Goulet believes that there is no longer any government that can say that it has reformed it.
Ms Goulet claims it’s not uncommon for nursing assistants in CHSLDs to have 23 to 28 patients under their stewardship. And with RPA, it’s even worse. What we’re asking is that they don’t have more than 18 patients.
On the part of the CIUSSS de l’Estrie – CHUS, we do not believe that such a law is the solution. We work with the Acuity of Care rather than saying, “It takes X nurses and X orderlies.” It’s more like saying that the floor I’m on right now, patients have such, such, and such [problème de santé]they need more care, and that’s where we grant the resources, explains Patricia Bourgault.
Nathalie Hains does not know whether the number of employees was sufficient on the day her mother Denise Fiset died. What she does know, however, is that her mother’s final hours were terrible. I know how much it hurts, pancreatitis. It’s super painful. My mother suffered from the weather for two days! How much did it cost to call the ambulance?
This is the last photo of Denise Fiset before her death Photo: Courtesy Nathalie Hains
More than coroner recommendations
Forensic pathologists regularly make recommendations in their investigative reports to the facilities where the deaths took place. While some recommendations are simple and aimed at improving the quality of patient care, other recommendations are more direct and could ensure such a tragedy does not happen again. However, nothing obliges the various authorities to apply them.
I observe more and more often that despite extremely important recommendations for the care and especially for the health of the patients, these are not always applied. That worries me, Paul Brunet complains.
“I am concerned that there are several recommendations from our coroners […] remain a dead letter. »
– A quote from Me Paul Brunet, President of the Council for the Protection of the Sick
Me Brunet thinks more pressure needs to be applied. Some of the extremely serious and serious recommendations should be approved by the Court so that they can be converted into decisions of the Court. Therefore, if the authorities or the data subjects do not apply them, they could be sanctioned, which is currently impossible, argues Me Brunet.
He is considering writing a letter to Attorney General Simon Jolin-Barrette to ask him to pursue this idea. There are so many serious and reputable recommendations made and deferred by coroners! […] I feel like the result is we don’t care.
“Someone hurts a dog on the side of the road, we call the police, they come and arrest the guy. Someone is pushed around or abused and dies in an RPA or in a CHSLD, the police are called and no one comes. What’s up? Are CHSLDs a world apart? »
– A quote from Me Paul Brunet, President of the Council for the Protection of the Sick
The staff at the Résidences Saint-Charles in Granby, where Denise Fiset lived, did not comply with an order from the CIUSSS de l’Estrie – CHUS ordering that the doctor on duty be called when a resident is ill. Canada / Genevieve Proulx
Disciplinary action ‘is not always the answer’
The CIUSSS de l’Estrie – CHUS did not want to indicate whether disciplinary measures were taken against the defaulting employees. However, we assure that anyone who finds himself in such a situation will be accompanied. We are not in a culture of blaming, but in a culture of supporting and improving the process, as the problem is more often a system failure than an individual, recalls Director of Nursing Patricia Bourgault.
Stéphanie Goulet also does not believe that nurses who have committed wrong should be brought to justice. If we ever find them guilty of criminal negligence, we will give them the right not to work under these conditions. […] and there will be no one working on the public web.
However, we at CIUSSS de l’Estrie – CHUS would like to reassure you. I often hear nurses say they are afraid of losing their license. It’s never where you want it to be. We want to support people upstream and downstream, assures director of care Patricia Bourgault.
In addition, she claims that the facilities are not waiting for the coroners’ investigative reports to act. This is how the recommendations were implemented and were often in use before the coroner’s report was received, she says. As a result, Ativan’s bulk prescription has been withdrawn from CHSLD East Angus.