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Govind Rao

Disability rights: fact sheet on what is a disability? | Canadian Union of Public Emplo... - 0 views

cupe.ca/hts-fact-sheet-what-disability

from heather disability cupe

shared by Govind Rao on 16 Oct 15 - No Cached
  • Oct 14, 2015
  • A disability is typically defined as a health condition or problem that has a degree of permanence and impairs one’s ability to carry out day-to-day activities. A disability is created when this impairment comes up against a disabling environment. A disability is also shaped by physical, institutional and social barriers, including attitudes and assumptions about differences and impairments.  Disabilities can be temporary, permanent or chronic.  Every disability is unique to the individual experiencing it. Roughly 4.4 million Canadians have some sort of disability. 
Irene Jansen

Healthcare Policy Vol. 7 No. 1 2011 Do Private Clinics or Expedited Fees Redu... - 0 views

www.longwoods.com/...22528

waits privatization private clinics wcb

shared by Irene Jansen on 23 Jan 12 - No Cached
  • Discussion: An overall difference of approximately three work weeks in disability duration may have meaningful clinical and quality-of-life implications for injured workers. However, minimal differences in expedited surgical wait times by private clinics versus public hospitals, and small differences in return-to-work outcomes favouring the public hospital group, suggest that a future economic evaluation of workers' compensation policies related to surgical setting is warranted.
  • In 2004, for example, WorkSafeBC (the workers' compensation system in British Columbia) paid almost 375% more ($3,222) for an expedited knee surgery performed in a private clinic than for a non-expedited knee procedure in a public hospital ($859) (both fees represent the aggregation of facility, surgical and anaesthetists' fees)
    • Irene Jansen
      Irene Jansen on 23 Jan 12
       
      ownership and quality (for-profit = worse quality)
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • As a policy under the workers' compensation insurance system, expedited fees were effective in reducing wait time to surgery. While a difference of only two weeks may not improve longer-term clinical outcomes post-surgery, it represents a reduction in the total disability duration (i.e., pain, suffering, quality of life) for the injured worker and increases the worker's likelihood of successfully returning to work; the reduced disability duration also represents a cost saving to the workers' compensation system for time-loss benefits and to employers who pay compensation premiums based on the frequency and duration of their claims experience.
    • Irene Jansen
      Irene Jansen on 23 Jan 12
       
      See two paragraphs down, which suggests that expedited patients did not in fact return to work faster.
  • the provision of surgeries "after hours" or within private clinics may result in a redistribution of finite resources (e.g., surgeons, surgeon time, surgical staff) from one insurance provider to another, favouring those associated with higher fees, thus creating inequities. An evaluation of the effect of workers' compensation policies on inequity in the provincial healthcare system was not part of this study and warrants future investigation.
  • Despite surgery wait time differences, injured workers in the public hospital group tended to do slightly better in terms of time to return to work after surgery compared to workers in the private clinic group
  • . In this case, the improved outcomes were a shorter disability duration and earlier return to work for injured workers. Some might argue that the approximate one-week difference was not statistically significant and, as such, the provision of surgeries with private clinics "does no harm" within the context of the workers' compensation environment. Yet, as with expedited fees, it remains unclear whether the reliance on for-profit clinics increases capacity for surgeries with costs borne appropriately by employers and industries for work-related injuries, or whether they redistribute finite resources away from the provision of surgeries within the public healthcare system. Further, minimal differences in disability duration for patients treated by private clinics relative to those treated in public hospitals, given the added cost associated with surgeries performed in for-profit clinics, suggest that a future economic evaluation of this workers' compensation policy is warranted.
  • the time leading up to surgery may be confounded by co-morbidities and that individuals with complications may be directed to the public system
  • A difference of approximately two weeks in surgery wait time associated with the expedited fee policy may have meaningful clinical and quality-of-life implications for injured workers, in addition to being cost-effective policy for workers' compensation insurance systems, but did not affect the return-to-work time post-surgery as part of total disability duration. Minimal (and not statistically significant) differences in disability duration were observed for surgeries performed in private clinics versus public hospitals.
  • Irene Jansen on 23 Jan 12
     
    An overall difference of approximately three work weeks in disability duration may have meaningful clinical and quality-of-life implications for injured workers. However, minimal differences in expedited surgical wait times by private clinics versus public hospitals, and small differences in return-to-work outcomes favouring the public hospital group, suggest that a future economic evaluation of workers' compensation policies related to surgical setting is warranted.
Doug Allan

Portrait of caregivers, 2012 - 1 views

www.statcan.gc.ca/...89-652-x2013001-eng.htm

homecare

shared by Doug Allan on 28 Sep 13 - No Cached
  • Over one-quarter (28%), or an estimated 8.1 million Canadians aged 15 years and older provided care to a chronically ill, disabled, or aging family member or friend in the 12 months preceding the survey.
  • While the majority of caregivers (57%) reported providing care to one person during the past 12 months, assisting more than one care receiver was not uncommon. In particular, 27% of caregivers reported caring for two and 15% for three or more family members or friends with a long-term illness, disability or aging needs.
  • Providing care most often involved helping parents. In particular, about half (48%) of caregivers reported caring for their own parents or parents in-law over the past year (Table 1)
  • ...23 more annotations...
  • In 2012, age-related needs were identified as the single most common problem requiring help from caregivers (28%) (Chart 1). This was followed by cancer (11%), cardio-vascular disease (9%), mental illness (7%), and Alzheimer’s disease and dementia (6%).
  • The majority of caregivers reported providing transportation to their primary care receiver, making it the most frequent type of care provided in the last 12 months (73%)
  • Most often, caregivers spent under 10 hours a week on caregiving duties. In particular, one-quarter of caregivers (26%) reported spending one hour or less per week caring for a family member or friend. Another 32% reported spending an average of 2 to 4 hours per week and 16% spent 5 to 9 hours per week on caregiving activities.  
  • The most common types of care were not always the ones most likely to be performed on a regular basis (i.e., at least once a week). For instance, despite the fact that personal care and providing medical assistance were the least common forms of care, when they were performed, these tasks were most likely to be done more regularly.
  • Emotional support often accompanied other help to the care receiver. Nearly nine in ten caregivers (88%) reported spending time with the person, talking with and listening to them, cheering them up or providing some other form of emotional support. Virtually all caregivers (96%) ensured that the ill or disabled family member or friend was okay, either by visiting or calling.
  • Overall, caregivers spent a median of 3 hours a week caring for an ill or disabled family member or friend. This climbed to a median of 10 hours per week for caregivers assisting a child and 14 hours for those providing care to an ill spouse (Chart 3).
  • In addition, about half of caregivers (51%) reported that they performed tasks inside the care recipients’ home in the last 12 months, such as preparing meals, cleaning, and laundry. Another 45% reported providing assistance with house maintenance or outdoor work.
  • For some, caregiving was a large part of their life - equivalent to a full time job. Approximately one in ten caregivers were spending 30 or more hours a week providing some form of assistance to their ill family member or friend.  These caregivers were most likely caring for an ill spouse (31%) or child (29%).5
  • The actual time spent performing tasks is often combined with time needed to travel to provide care. Approximately three-quarters (73%) of caregivers indicated that they did not live in the same household or building as their care receiver, meaning they often had to travel to reach the care recipients’ home. Just over half (52%), however, reported having to travel less than 30 minutes by car.  Roughly 12% of caregivers provided help to a family member who lived at least one hour away by car.
  • Certain health conditions required more hours of care. This was the case for developmental disabilities or disorders, where 51% of these caregivers were spending at least 10 hours a week providing help
  • Caregivers have multiple responsibilities beyond caring for their chronically ill, disabled or aging family member or friend. In 2012, 28% of caregivers could be considered “sandwiched” between caregiving and childrearing, having at least one child under 18 years living at home
  • Four provinces had rates above the national average of 28%, including Ontario (29%), Nova Scotia (31%), Manitoba (33%) and Saskatchewan (34%) (Textbox Chart 1). The higher levels of caregiving in Ontario, Nova Scotia and Manitoba were largely related to caring for a loved one suffering from a chronic health condition or disability, whereas in Saskatchewan, the higher level of caregiving was attributed to aging needs. 
  • Historically, caregivers have been disproportionally women (Cranswick and Dosman 2008). This was also true in 2012, when an estimated 54% of caregivers were women.
  • Although the median number of caregiving hours was similar between men and women (3 and 4 hours per week, respectively), women were more likely than their male counterparts to spend 20 or more hours per week on caregiving tasks (17% versus 11%). Meanwhile, men were more likely than women to spend less than one hour per week providing care (29% versus 23%) (Chart 5).
  • For instance, they were twice as likely as their male counterparts to provide personal care to the primary care receiver, including bathing and dressing (29% versus 13%).
  • Caring for an ill or disabled family member or friend can span months or years. For the vast majority of caregivers (89%), their caregiving activities had been going on at least one year or longer, with half reporting they had been caring for a loved one for four years or more.
  • The aging of the population, higher life expectancies and the shift in emphasis from institutionalized care to home care may suggest that more chronically ill, disabled and frail people are relying on help from family and friends than in the past. Using the GSS, it is possible to examine the changes in the number of caregivers aged 45 years and older, recognizing that methodological differences between survey cycles warrant caution when interpreting any results.
  • Bearing in mind these caveats, results from the GSS show that between 2007 and 2012, the number of caregivers aged 45 and over increased by 760,000 to 4.5 million caregivers, representing a 20% increase in the number of caregivers over the five years.
  • Having less time with children was an often cited outcome of providing care to a chronically ill, disabled, or aging family member or friend. About half (49%) of caregivers with children under 18 indicated that their caregiving responsibilities caused them to reduce the amount of time spent with their children.6
  • Overall, the vast majority of caregivers (95%) indicated that they were effectively coping with their caregiving responsibilities, with only 5% reporting that they were not coping well.7 However, the feeling of being unable to cope grew with a greater number of hours of care. By the time caregivers were spending 20 or more hours per week on caregiving tasks, one in ten (10%) were not coping well.  
  • In addition, while most were able to effectively manage their caregiving responsibilities, 28% found providing care somewhat or very stressful and 19% of caregivers indicated that their physical and emotional health suffered in the last 12 months as a result of their caregiving responsibilities.
  • The health consequences of caregiving were even more pronounced when caregivers were asked specific questions on their health symptoms. Over half (55%) of caregivers felt worried or anxious as a result of their caregiving responsibilities, while about half (51%) felt tired during the past 12 months (Chart 8). Other common symptoms associated with providing care included feeling short-tempered or irritable (36%), feeling overwhelmed (35%) and having a disturbed sleep (34%).8
  • The financial impacts related to caring for a loved one can be significant. Lost days at work may reduce household income, while out-of-pocket expenses, such as purchasing specialized aids or devices, transportation costs, and hiring professional help to assist with care, can be borne from caring for a loved one. In many cases, financial support, from either informal or formal sources, can ease the financial burden associated with caregiving responsibilities. Overall, about one in five caregivers (19%) were receiving some form of financial support. 
  • Doug Allan on 28 Sep 13
     
    Survey of care givers
Irene Jansen

For those with intellectual disabilities, a decades-long wait for a home and care - The... - 0 views

www.theglobeandmail.com/...article2397837

housing social services disabilities

shared by Irene Jansen on 11 Apr 12 - No Cached
  • For parents of people with an intellectual disability, the quest to find a home and services starts early and can last decades
  • Even community housing – with queues of a dozen years in some cases – doesn’t rival the waits of people with an intellectual disability.
  • an enormous price tag that is only partly offset by government
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • Today, for example, there is one home each in Red Deer, Portage la Prairie and Moose Jaw, and the latter one is slated to close.
  • The housing crisis follows the closure over the years of institutions
  • 73 per cent of working-age adults with an intellectual disability who live on their own live in poverty.
  • estimates there are 686,000 intellectually disabled people across the country
  • In Ontario, 12,000 people are in the queue for residential housing.
Heather Farrow

Exploitative practices of disabled workers persist across Canada | Canadian Association... - 0 views

calm.ca/...orkers-persist-across-canada-0

disability discrimination

shared by Heather Farrow on 13 Apr 16 - No Cached
  • Just how many jurisdictions across Canada allow for employers to pay disabled workers below the minimum wage?
  • Mon Apr 11 2016
  • by Teuila Fuatai "Outdated" employment legislation permitting employers to pay disabled workers below minimum wage in Alberta is set to be reviewed, the NDP government says. The law, which states an employer is eligible to apply for a permit from the government nullifying minimum wage standards for disabled workers, has been repealed in all other Canadian jurisdictions -- with Saskatchewan and Manitoba the most recent of the provinces to scrap equivalent legislation in 2013.
Heather Farrow

South Dakota illegally placed disabled people in nursing homes, federal investigation f... - 0 views

www.bmj.com/...bmj.i2532

us disability ltc court

shared by Heather Farrow on 05 May 16 - No Cached
  • BMJ 2016; 353 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.i2532 (Published 04 May 2016) Cite this as: BMJ 2016;353:i2532
  • Michael McCarthy
  • In violation of federal law, the state of South Dakota unnecessarily placed elderly people and people with disabilities in nursing facilities when they could have stayed in their homes and communities with appropriate support, a US Department of Justice investigation has found.Under the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and a subsequent Supreme Court ruling, states must provide people with disabilities services in the most integrated community setting appropriate to their needs, regardless of age or type of disability.
Irene Jansen

Province to investigate scalding of disabled man - 0 views

www.edmontonjournal.com/...story.html

alberta social services privatization safety

shared by Irene Jansen on 09 Nov 12 - No Cached
  • Alberta’s associate minister responsible for persons with disabilities has ordered an investigation into another severe scalding of a vulnerable Albertan in provincial care, but the father of a Calgary man scalded to death last year says more has to be done to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
  • a man with developmental disabilities was scalded in a bath in a care home in southern Alberta a week ago
  • A protection for persons in care unit is investigating the incident and the victim has been transferred to another care facility where he is recovering
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • Oberle said he has also ordered a review of all of the facilities operated by the contract care provider
  • the incident came in the wake of a fatal scalding of a 35-year-old Calgary man in October 2011
  • the government has spent $2 million installing more than 2,000 temperature control devices in care homes
  • It’s the eighth known case of a serious scalding in a care facility in the province since 1980
  • Following Holmes’ Nov. 26, 2011, death, the province said it was looking at more tightly regulating contracted facilities and providing more funding to pay workers better.
  • opposition critics suggested chronic staffing shortages in Alberta care facilities may turn out to be a factor in the tragedy
Govind Rao

Disabled adults get inadequate health care, study finds | Toronto Star - 0 views

www.thestar.com/...e_health_care_study_finds.html

from heather disability Ontario

shared by Govind Rao on 29 Nov 13 - No Cached
  • Disabled adults get inadequate health care, study finds Researchers paint grim picture of preventive care, medications and "band-aid solutions"
  • By: Andrea Gordon Feature Writer, Published on Tue Nov 12 2013
  • Adults with autism, Down syndrome and other developmental disabilities face more physical and mental health problems but are less likely to get the care they need than other adults, a new Ontario study has found. The research, released Tuesday, is the largest examination of its kind and paints a worrisome picture of how this “silent minority” — often unable to communicate their distress — is served by the health care system.
Govind Rao

Enhanced Disability Management Program for members in facilities subsector expands to i... - 0 views

www.heu.org/...-subsector-expands-include-aff

from heather bc cupe hospital disability

shared by Govind Rao on 20 Aug 15 - No Cached
  • July 23, 2015
  • The Enhanced Disability Management Program (EDMP), jointly negotiated by the Facilities Bargaining Association (FBA) and the Health Employers Association of BC (HEABC), is in the process of expanding to include a number of affiliate health care employers. 
Govind Rao

Sick Kids staff to rally for the same disability benefits, pensions as other Ontario ho... - 0 views

www.ochu.on.ca/...sick_kids_rally_oct_2015.php

from heather cupe Ontario hospital bargaining campaign

shared by Govind Rao on 14 Oct 15 - No Cached
  • 14/October/2015
  • Toronto, Ont. – Employees of the Hospital for Sick Children are taking their fight for the same disability and pension benefits workers enjoy at almost every other hospital in the province.“The Hospital for Sick Children is a world leader in patient care and research, but it lags far behind its peers in how it treats its own sick and retired employees, says Julian Harney, vice- president of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions/CUPE for the GTA.
  • “ Staff live in poverty if they suffer a long-term illness under the Hospital for Sick Children’s long-term disability plan, because it is so inferior. Sick Kids has refused to join the Hospitals of Ontario Disability Plan, which almost every other hospital in Ontario participates in and the hospital is the only one in Ontario that refuses to join the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan” says Leonora Foster, president of CUPE Local 2816, which represents employees at the hospital.Hospital staff on their 30-minute lunch break will rally October 15, outside the hospital at 555 University Ave. at noon.
Govind Rao

Discrimination: A checklist and sample collective agreement language | Canadian Union o... - 0 views

cupe.ca/-collective-agreement-language

from heather cupe equity bargaining

shared by Govind Rao on 19 Oct 15 - No Cached
  • Oct 19, 2015
  • This document provides a checklist and examples of collective agreement language on discrimination. Discrimination is an action or a decision that treats a person or a group negatively for reasons such as their gender, race or disability. These reasons are known as grounds of discrimination. Depending on the jurisdiction of your workplace (provincial, territorial or federal), your list of “prohibited grounds” of discrimination can include: age, sex, race, gender, colour, creed, religion, ethnicity, pregnancy, ancestry, political belief, marital status, family status, language, citizenship, civil status, nationality, place of origin, physical disability, mental disability, criminal conviction, Aboriginal origin, social condition, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, source of income, linguistic background or other grounds.
Heather Farrow

Disabled man's plea reignites debate about nursing home hygiene | Montreal Gazette - 0 views

montrealgazette.com/...ate-about-nursing-home-hygiene

Quebec disability ltc quality

shared by Heather Farrow on 30 May 16 - No Cached
  • May 26, 2016 5
  • QUEBEC — “Hello. My name is François. I am 43 years old. I live in Quebec City and I am a prisoner of my body. Please help me escape.” That is how François Marcotte began his post on Go Fund Me, a personal fundraising website. Marcotte, who suffers from multiple sclerosis and is completely paralyzed, is trying to raise at least $25,000 to hire someone to give him three showers a week at the nursing home where he is now forced to live, and to pay for an adapted vehicle.
Heather Farrow

Medically assisted suicide bill is 'clearly unconstitutional,' lawyer says - 0 views

www.thestar.com/...onstitutional-lawyer-says.html

suicide legislation

shared by Heather Farrow on 10 May 16 - No Cached
  • Heather Farrow on 10 May 16
     
    "(Bill C-14 is) treating all physically disabled people as children incapable of agency and autonomy and I just find that incredibly offensive," said Vancouver lawyer Joe Arvay, a paraplegic.
  • Heather Farrow on 10 May 16
     
    "(Bill C-14 is) treating all physically disabled people as children incapable of agency and autonomy and I just find that incredibly offensive," said Vancouver lawyer Joe Arvay, a paraplegic.
Heather Farrow

Nursing homes no place for young adults with disabilities, says Berwick family - Nova S... - 0 views

www.cbc.ca/...ace-for-young-adults-1.3565027

ltc disability violence

shared by Heather Farrow on 05 May 16 - No Cached
  • 'If somebody wants to hurt me, they could. I can't stop them,' says Victoria Levack
  • May 04, 2016
  • A 25-year-old woman with cerebral palsy who lives at a Halifax nursing home says she's been choked, scratched, bruised and harassed by other patients, and says such facilities are no place for a young person with disabilities. "I'm spastic. I don't have a lot of strength and agility," Victoria Levack told CBC Radio's Mainstreet. "I'm unable to physically defend myself. If somebody wants to hurt me, they could. I can't stop them."
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • Violence a problem
Irene Jansen

Senate Committee Social Affairs review of the health accord. Evidence, October 5, 2011 - 0 views

www.parl.gc.ca/...49078-e.htm

accord hhr senate

shared by Irene Jansen on 23 Jan 12 - No Cached
  • our theme today is health and human resources
  • Dr. Andrew Padmos, Chief Executive Officer, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada
  • The first is to continue and augment investments in patient-centred medical education and training programs that support lifelong learning.
  • ...25 more annotations...
  • we have three recommendations
  • Patient-centred care, inter-professional care and comprehensive care are all things that deserve and require additional investment and attention.
  • We need a pan-Canadian human resources for health observatory function to provide evidence and data on which to plan. Our workforce science in Canada is at a very primitive stage, and we are lurching from one crisis in one locality or one specialty to another.
  • The second recommendation
  • Our third recommendation
  • Canada needs an injury prevention strategy to elevate in the public's attention and bring resources to bear to reduce needless injuries in our life. The reason for this is that injuries cause a lot of loss of life, disability, long-lasting disability and painful disability, and they cost a lot of money.
  • Jean-François LaRue, Director General, Labour Market Integration, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
  • foreign credential recognition
  • Marc LeBrun, Director General, Canada Student Loans, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
  • Canada student loan forgiveness for family physicians, nurses and nurse practitioners, as introduced in Budget 2011
  • Robert Shearer, Acting Director General, Health Care Programs and Policy Directorate, Strategic Policy Branch, Health Canada
  • in 2004 the federal government committed to the following: accelerating and expanding the assessment and integration of internationally trained health care graduates across the country; targeting efforts in support of Aboriginal communities and official language minority communities to increase the supply of health care professionals in these communities; implementing measures to reduce the financial burden on students in specific health education programs, in collaboration with our colleagues in other federal departments; and participating in HHR planning with interested jurisdictions
  • Canada does not have a single national health human resources plan
  • Health Canada plays a leadership role in HHR by supporting a range of targeted projects and initiatives of national significance.
  • Pan-Canadian Health Human Resource Strategy
  • Internationally Educated Health Professionals Initiative
  • Health Canada supports collaborative efforts as co-chairs of the federal-provincial-territorial Advisory Committee on Health Delivery and Human Resources known as ACHDHR. This committee was created by the conference of deputy ministers of health back in 2002, to link issues of primary health care, service delivery and HHR.
  • ACHDHR will be providing a written brief
  • The federal government also participates on ACHDHR as a jurisdiction that directly employs health care providers and has responsibility for the funding and delivery of certain health care services for populations under federal responsibility, such as First Nations and Inuit, eligible veterans, refugee protection claimants, inmates of federal penitentiaries, and serving members of the Canadian Forces and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
  • Shelagh Jane Woods, Director General, Primary Health Care and Public Health Directorate, First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, Health Canada
  • Dr. Brian Conway, President, Société Santé en français
  • account for over a million Canadians who need access to quality health services in their own language.
  • Acadian and francophone communities outside Quebec
  • Senator Eggleton
  • I am interested in the injury prevention idea. We hear of it from time to time. Do you have some specific thoughts on what an injury prevention program or strategy might look like and how it might fit in with the health accord? One of the things the Health Accord brought about in 2004 was the federal government saying to the provinces, “If you do this and you do that we will give you money here and there.” Maybe we should be doing that here. Maybe we should ask the federal government to provide an incentive for the provinces to be able to do something. It would be interesting if you could come up with a vision of what that strategy might look like.
  • Irene Jansen on 23 Jan 12
     
    Health Human Resources
Irene Jansen

Scalding death of disabled Albertan to be investigated - 0 views

www.edmontonjournal.com/...story.html

standards safety alberta ltc

shared by Irene Jansen on 23 Jan 12 - No Cached
  • The province has launched an investigation into the death of a disabled Albertan who was scalded with hot water during a bath at a government-funded group home in the Calgary area.
  • This isn't the first time such an incident has occurred in Alberta. Ninety-year-old Jennie Nelson died in early 2004, nine days after being scalded during a bath at Jubilee Lodge Nursing Home in Edmonton. The judge who led a fatality inquiry gave 30 detailed recommendations, including that all tubs in long-term care facilities should have anti-scalding devices that shut off the water if it goes above 41 C.
Irene Jansen

Scalding death in Alberta care home revives painful memories - 0 views

www.canada.com/...story.html

safety standards ltc

shared by Irene Jansen on 23 Jan 12 - No Cached
  • On Monday, the Alberta government announced it has been conducting an ongoing investigation into the death of a disabled Albertan who was scalded during a bath at a government-funded group home in the Calgary area.
  • Deaths from these types of thermal burns in government-funded facilities are rare. But they're not unheard of.
  • She said society needs to do a better job of protecting the most helpless and defenceless citizens — children, seniors and the disabled. Elmgren said she worries that many staff are being overworked, and it's concerning that the Alberta Seniors, the province's department responsible for seniors, responsible for the PDD program, waited as long as it did to inform the public of the Calgary death.
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • Eventually a judge ruled the health region was negligent and her family received a $85,000 settlement as well as the right to sit on a patient safety team for the health region.
  • In 2005, Poff was 51 and in the care of the Cypress Hills Health Region in Swift Current. While being given a bath that August, Poff was bathed in water so hot she received first, second and third degree burns to her right foot, leg and buttocks, her family said in a statement of claim. Poff died five days later.
  • Ann Nicol, chief executive of the Alberta Council of Disability Services — an organization that both represents and accredits agencies — confirmed the operator of the group home had been given the council's seal of approval two years ago.
  • As part of that process, Nicol said the agency was required to show that it had a policy in place to prevent thermal burns and that staff had been properly trained.
  • After the 2004 death of a 90-year-old resident scalded in the bath at an Edmonton nursing home, the province introduced new licensing and inspection requirements for group homes with four or more residents, aimed at preventing a repeat occurrence.
Govind Rao

MUHC irons out glitches on first full day at Glen site - Infomart - 0 views

www.fpinfomart.ca/doc/doc_display.php?key=pr|246243|mtgz|20150428|219341247

from heather p3 hospital Quebec quality

shared by Govind Rao on 28 Apr 15 - No Cached
  • Montreal Gazette Tue Apr 28 2015
  • n its first full day of operations, doctors at the MUHC superhospital examined patients with a wide range of ailments, the emergency room was 27 per cent occupied and staff continued to become acquainted with the sprawling facilities. Some patients said they were impressed with the Glen site of the McGill University Health Centre, while one disabled man expressed frustration on Monday about a lack of access to the superhospital. Meanwhile, a union representative complained that the access passes to restricted areas for certain employees weren't working.
  • Parts of the Glen site were still a construction zone one day after the historic move of 154 patients - including 15 babies - from the Royal Victoria Hospital on Mount Royal. The move went much more smoothly than organizers expected, but with the superhospital now open, there are a number of glitches that will need to be addressed in the coming days. Pierre Vaillancourt, who is disabled and in a wheelchair, went to see his doctor for an appointment, but soon grew upset when his companion, Diane Perron, couldn't find a chair to sit on in the waiting room. At one point, Perron needed to go to the bathroom, but the door was locked.
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • After the appointment, the two waited forlornly in the lobby for more than an hour for an adaptedtransport vehicle. Perron, who is not disabled, sat in a wheelchair because there were no seats in the lobby. As she wheeled Vaillancourt to a waiting taxi van, his wheelchair got stuck in several decorative grooves in the pavement outside the entrance to the new Royal Vic. "That's terrible," Perron said of the pavement for those who must use wheelchairs. "It's a beautiful building, but they are not yet ready to receive patients," Vaillancourt said. However, another patient, 76-year-old Shirley Ann Wood of LaSalle, praised the ultra-modern facilities of the superhospital, especially its "fast" elevators. Wood had just seen her cardiologist for a checkup and was sitting on a wooden bench outside waiting for her daughter to pick her up.
  • Wood said she was initially skeptical about the superhospital - having gone for years to the Royal Vic on Pine Ave., first for her mother, then herself - but was won over. "Everything is clearly marked and it's easy to get around," Wood said. "It's really nice." But Daniel Andrade, a representative of the MUHC Employees Union affiliated with the CSN, noted that some people found it difficult navigating the many corridors of the superhospital. "It would be nice to have more people standing around directing people to where they need to go," Andrade said.
  • He identified a number of what he called "hiccups," such as the phone system not working properly, some employees not having phones or computers, printers that were not yet attached and the access cards malfunctioning. Ironically, Andrade added, his card gave him access to every restricted department at the Glen site, and that's not supposed to be the case. Those problems should be ironed out, but Andrade expressed concern that the superhospital won't have enough support staffto function smoothly. Two years ago, the Quebec government imposed $50 million in cuts to the MUHC's operating budget. The $1.3-billion superhospital was built as a public-private partnership to avoid cost overruns. However, design-build contractor SNC-Lavalin is demanding an extra $172 million for what it argues were unforeseen expenses.
  • SNC-Lavalin delayed handing over the keys to the superhospital by five weeks, which caused delays for the MUHC in "activating" equipment. On Monday, construction workers walked past the new entrance even as patients filed out. As of 4 p.m. Monday, the number of in-patients at the superhospital stood at 125, down from the 154 transferred on Sunday. The volume of outpatient visits was 25 per cent of the normal rate but is expected to rise gradually this week. On Sunday night, the superhospital performed its first operation, an appendectomy, followed by a Cesarean section on Monday. Dr. Ewa Sidorowicz, the MUHC's associate director general of medical affairs, has said that the hospital network will concentrate first on emergency operations and then ramp up the volume of elective surgeries. aderfel@montrealgazette.com twitter.com/Aaron_Derfel
Govind Rao

We can't live on $4.92 an hour ... Hospital staff protest SickKids sick plan Thursday a... - 0 views

cupe.ca/ckkids-sick-plan-thursday-noon

from heather cupe Ontario campaign disability wages hospital

shared by Govind Rao on 23 Apr 15 - No Cached
  • Apr 22, 2015
  • Unlike almost all hospital employees who are covered under the Hospitals of Ontario Disability Income Plan (HOODIP), SickKids’ staff who suffer a catastrophic or long-term illness receive significantly inferior sick leave and long-term disability provisions.
  • Under the current scheme provided by the hospital, an employee who with Stage 3 or Stage 4 cancer, for example would receive about $800 a month. It means that the hourly rate for these employees effectively falls to $4.92 an hour.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • In Toronto, “that’s not enough to live on,” says Leonora Foster the president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) 2816. “We have co-workers who fall into poverty or who return to work before they are recovered, because the current plan does not protect us.”
Govind Rao

Wait-list unethics - Infomart - 0 views

www.fpinfomart.ca/doc/doc_display.php?key=pr|242663|ntnp|20150305|215746740

from heather waits privatization doctors

shared by Govind Rao on 05 Mar 15 - No Cached
  • National Post Thu Mar 5 2015
  • Re: Wait-List Limbo, Marni Soupcoff, March 3. When newly graduated as a medical doctor, I considered it my ethical duty to use my knowledge to make a timely diagnosis and suggest timely definitive treatments as indicated. Thus, I find it unethical, if not deeply abhorrent, to make people who suffer from debilitating and disabling pain, to remain suffering for years on wait lists to see specialists, and even longer waiting for surgery (which, if "elective," may be postponed repeatedly.)
  • This is not what I signed up for. I am astonished any doctor in Canada would want to see a patient suffer with prolonged pain and disability. As a doctor, I want to relieve pain without pushing yet more pills as a stopgap to a specialist consultation.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • The acquiescence and complacency of the medical community to the sacred cow of Canadian "medicare" astonish me as much as the complacency of deluded Canadians (including doctors) who think the system is irreproachable. Many surgical specialists are available and eager to work.
  • The Canadian public system does not offer enough operating time for them to establish a viable practice. Should not this talented resource help to ease the wait lists and minimize prolonged pain and disability? Denise Pugash Vancouver
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