- 注册
- 2002-10-07
- 消息
- 402,187
- 荣誉分数
- 76
- 声望点数
- 0
The City of Ottawa is moving quickly to hire 35 more personal support workers after an independent review found residents in city long-term care homes are receiving less care than those in Ontario non-profit facilities.
The new staff would cost the city $2.3 million annually, but the community and protective services committee doesn’t want council to wait until 2019 to start the hiring. The committee wants council, through a vote on May 9, to take $800,000 from the 2018 one-time and unforeseen expenses account to hire the personal support workers immediately.
The independent study by Greg Fougère was one of three major reviews of the city’s four long-term care homes released Monday. The city’s auditor general also made 27 recommendations across two audits that investigated a case of alleged resident-on-resident sexual abuse and medication controls at the facilities.
The city last November asked Fougère to review the long-term care program after reports of abuse at the municipal facilities.
Fougère, the former head of the Perley and Rideau Veterans’ Health Centre, told councillors Monday that residents in the city’s long-term care homes receive an average of 18 minutes less nursing and personal care per day, compared with the Ontario average for non-profit facilities in 2016.
Related
Coun. Diane Deans, chair of the community and protective services committee, said she worked with Mayor Jim Watson over the weekend on the proposal to hire more personal support workers before bringing it to the committee.
Fougère said the impact of hiring 35 more personal support workers, which was one of his recommendations to the city, will be “huge.” He emphasized the dedicated staff and the good quality of care at the homes, but he said problems, like a staff shortage, can’t be overlooked.
There are 717 residents in city-run long-term care homes and their average age is 85. About 76 per cent of all residents have dementia or a similar cognitive impairment. About 1,000 staff work across all four homes.
The facilities have been under the microscope for the past year with Fougère, auditor general Ken Hughes and the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, through a compliance order, all launching separate investigations into the city’s operations. The city has created an 84-point work plan in response to their suggestions.
The intense scrutiny has taken a toll on the workforce, according to Fougère, who conducted 240 interviews and discussions with staff, volunteers, residents and families.
Fougère said good staff are feeling down about the incidents of abuse reported at the facilities — two high-profile cases involved a resident who was physically assaulted by a staff member and another who was verbally abused by staff — and they feel they’re being unfairly lumped in with the bad workers.
“There’s been a real hit. There’s been a loss of pride by a lot of staff in their job. The morale is down. They feel bad about what’s happened,” Fougère said.
“Some staff don’t even want to talk about working for the City of Ottawa because they have been questioned so much about the two incidents that have been in the media for the last year, and those were serious incidents, had a huge impact on the residents and their families, and it’s important to have that dialogue. But it has had an impact (on staff), and that impact means it affects care. There’s no question in my mind.”
Some staff simply aren’t suitable for work in long-term care homes and the union should be part of any discussion on how to correct that, Fougère said.
Janice Burelle, general manager of community and social services, said the city has been consulting with workers to get feedback on long-term care priorities. Managers are being encouraged to take the next three days to talk with staff about the improvements on tap, Burelle said.
Fougère also underscored communication as an area that needs to be improved. He learned of instances of workers making insensitive comments to residents, lacking sensitivity to linguistic or cultural needs of residents and using “non-supportive” body language.
He also criticized the city for instability in the management of long-term care. There were 52 management changes in 21 senior management positions between 2015 and 2017. The city says it’s not a systemic problem.
Fougère said council should create a board of directors, made up of councillors and members of the public, that oversees the long-term care program. The suggestion will be fed into the governance planning for the next council term.
Fougère suggested the city spend another $600,000 on other staff, such as a nursing practice manager, human resources manager, quality and risk manager, admission co-ordinators and a staff development resource. On top of that, the current $350,000 annual capital budget for the four facilities isn’t adequate, Fougère said.
The community and protective services committee didn’t direct specific funding for the support positions but it gave staff flexibility to address those needs through the funding of new personal support workers.
The finance and economic development committee is poised to approve $1 million for technology and equipment upgrades at long-term care homes during a meeting Tuesday. Combined with the proposed hiring plan, a total of $1.8 million more could go to long-term care homes this year, beyond what the city already budgeted for 2018.
The city will face a multimillion-dollar budget pressure in 2019 if council approves the new personal support workers. Burelle said the city will identify all cost pressures ahead of the 2019 long-term care budget. She said the city is also expecting more funding from other levels of government.
jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling
查看原文...
The new staff would cost the city $2.3 million annually, but the community and protective services committee doesn’t want council to wait until 2019 to start the hiring. The committee wants council, through a vote on May 9, to take $800,000 from the 2018 one-time and unforeseen expenses account to hire the personal support workers immediately.
The independent study by Greg Fougère was one of three major reviews of the city’s four long-term care homes released Monday. The city’s auditor general also made 27 recommendations across two audits that investigated a case of alleged resident-on-resident sexual abuse and medication controls at the facilities.
The city last November asked Fougère to review the long-term care program after reports of abuse at the municipal facilities.
Fougère, the former head of the Perley and Rideau Veterans’ Health Centre, told councillors Monday that residents in the city’s long-term care homes receive an average of 18 minutes less nursing and personal care per day, compared with the Ontario average for non-profit facilities in 2016.
Related
- Highlights of long-term care recommendations
- Unreported sex incident, lax drug controls revealed in long-term care home audit
Coun. Diane Deans, chair of the community and protective services committee, said she worked with Mayor Jim Watson over the weekend on the proposal to hire more personal support workers before bringing it to the committee.
Fougère said the impact of hiring 35 more personal support workers, which was one of his recommendations to the city, will be “huge.” He emphasized the dedicated staff and the good quality of care at the homes, but he said problems, like a staff shortage, can’t be overlooked.
There are 717 residents in city-run long-term care homes and their average age is 85. About 76 per cent of all residents have dementia or a similar cognitive impairment. About 1,000 staff work across all four homes.
The facilities have been under the microscope for the past year with Fougère, auditor general Ken Hughes and the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, through a compliance order, all launching separate investigations into the city’s operations. The city has created an 84-point work plan in response to their suggestions.
The intense scrutiny has taken a toll on the workforce, according to Fougère, who conducted 240 interviews and discussions with staff, volunteers, residents and families.
Fougère said good staff are feeling down about the incidents of abuse reported at the facilities — two high-profile cases involved a resident who was physically assaulted by a staff member and another who was verbally abused by staff — and they feel they’re being unfairly lumped in with the bad workers.
“There’s been a real hit. There’s been a loss of pride by a lot of staff in their job. The morale is down. They feel bad about what’s happened,” Fougère said.
“Some staff don’t even want to talk about working for the City of Ottawa because they have been questioned so much about the two incidents that have been in the media for the last year, and those were serious incidents, had a huge impact on the residents and their families, and it’s important to have that dialogue. But it has had an impact (on staff), and that impact means it affects care. There’s no question in my mind.”
Some staff simply aren’t suitable for work in long-term care homes and the union should be part of any discussion on how to correct that, Fougère said.
Janice Burelle, general manager of community and social services, said the city has been consulting with workers to get feedback on long-term care priorities. Managers are being encouraged to take the next three days to talk with staff about the improvements on tap, Burelle said.
Fougère also underscored communication as an area that needs to be improved. He learned of instances of workers making insensitive comments to residents, lacking sensitivity to linguistic or cultural needs of residents and using “non-supportive” body language.
He also criticized the city for instability in the management of long-term care. There were 52 management changes in 21 senior management positions between 2015 and 2017. The city says it’s not a systemic problem.
Fougère said council should create a board of directors, made up of councillors and members of the public, that oversees the long-term care program. The suggestion will be fed into the governance planning for the next council term.
Fougère suggested the city spend another $600,000 on other staff, such as a nursing practice manager, human resources manager, quality and risk manager, admission co-ordinators and a staff development resource. On top of that, the current $350,000 annual capital budget for the four facilities isn’t adequate, Fougère said.
The community and protective services committee didn’t direct specific funding for the support positions but it gave staff flexibility to address those needs through the funding of new personal support workers.
The finance and economic development committee is poised to approve $1 million for technology and equipment upgrades at long-term care homes during a meeting Tuesday. Combined with the proposed hiring plan, a total of $1.8 million more could go to long-term care homes this year, beyond what the city already budgeted for 2018.
The city will face a multimillion-dollar budget pressure in 2019 if council approves the new personal support workers. Burelle said the city will identify all cost pressures ahead of the 2019 long-term care budget. She said the city is also expecting more funding from other levels of government.
jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling
查看原文...
