The BC Nurses Union (BCNU) will "keep the government's feet to the fire" in regards to senior care improvements, according to Joanna Taylor, BCNU chair of the Pacific Rim region.
Health Minister Mike De Jong on Tuesday unveiled Improving the Care of BC Seniors: An Action Plan. The plan was created partially in response to recommendations on senior care by B.C. ombudsperson Kim Carter.
Taylor said Carter's findings are "totally valid," adding that the BCNU felt many of the findings needed to be dealt with three years ago.
She also said that while it's significant the province created an action plan, the plan could be more specific.
"It is a little bit weak and vague, and I think that there needs to be a little bit more detail applied to some of (the actions)... not just their goals, but actual actions under each one of them," said Taylor. "It needs to be a little bit more strategic — with timelines."
She said the BCNU will keep pressure on the province to ensure the actions are implemented and evaluated.
One of the actions she said will positively affect the Comox Valley is the expansion of non-medical home support services, such as housekeeping, yard maintenance and transportation.
"They want to move to having better community services to be able to keep people at home, and that will absolutely impact the Comox Valley because there's not enough programs in place right now to support (seniors living at home)," said Taylor.
Gwyn Frayne of Support Our Seniors (SOS) Comox Valley agreed that improved at-home services will benefit many seniors in the Valley, but said another big problem in the Valley, not addressed in the action plan, is a lack of non-profit care facilities.
According to Frayne, seniors can get on a government subsidized plan so that they only pay 70 per cent of their income to live in a care facility, but that can take months because of lack of space.
"Some of the seniors that I know wait for months and months to get on that subsidized plan," said Frayne, adding that they may end up spending all the money they made by selling their house while waiting for a subsidized bed because unsubsidized care is expensive.
"They're lucky, of course, to have house-money because there are a lot of people who don't, and they're the ones that I really worry about.
"They end up in the hospital waiting for a place to go, and then that ties up a lot of the acute care beds."
Taylor also pointed out that requirements around staffing levels in residential facilities were included in the ombudsperson's report, but no action has been announced surrounding this issue yet.
"The nurses — RNs, LPNs — have been run off their feet; there's a lot of burn out in those areas, there's a lot of workload issues, so we would really like to see residential care have actual guidelines that support patient care hours basically per resident," explained Taylor, adding that The Views at St. Joseph's Hospital are an example of this in the Comox Valley.
Frayne added that many of the concerns she hears from Comox Valley seniors stem from provincial regulations.
"At every single meeting of our SOS group, we hear of more things that should be improved, and that's not to put all of the blame on any of the managers," said Frayne. "A lot of the things stem from the regulations that come from Victoria, so we really do want to see those regulations, the standards, and proceedures and protocols, changed."
Taylor said the action plan is a step in the right direction, but more changes still need to come.
"We've been waiting for so long for this. I hope that it does provide some relief," said Taylor. But, "really the bottom line is that it's always been about patient care and patient safety, and this is a big area; that has been a big concern for BCNU that hasn't been taken care of."
Action Plan Highlights
Actions included in 'Improving the Care of BC Seniors: An Action Plan'
• Ensuring concerns and complaints are responded to and resolved in a timely manner through the establishment of the Office of the Seniors' Advocate, and a separate toll-free phone line for seniors and families to launch June 2012.
• Improved access to information for seniors and their families so they can make better care choices. This includes online access to facility reports, easier access to assessments of seniors' health needs and information on policies around eligibility, charges and hardship waivers - all by September 2012.
• Piloting a new risk assessment tool for residential facilities to provide a more accurate indication of potential risks to quality and safety, as well as establishing enforcement processes that ensure compliance.
• Protection and safety of seniors through the development of a provincial elder abuse prevention, identification and response plan by December 2012, which will include consultations with key stakeholders starting in February 2012.
• Meeting the support needs of seniors in their community so they age in place by expanding non-medical home support from five communities to up to 65 communities over three years, initiating opportunities for new housing and care options, providing provincewide, after-hours access to palliative tele-nursing beginning April 2012 and better integration beginning April 2012 of primary and community care for seniors.
Health authorities expect to spend over $2.5 billion on home and community care this year for seniors - an increase of 60 per cent from 2001, according to a news release from the Ministry of Health.