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Seniors contact the Ombudsperson’s
office for a variety of reasons.
For example, if you feel you’ve been unfairly treated by
Pharmacare, the Medical Services Plan, the Ministry of Health, a
hospital or health region, ICBC, or the Public Guardian and
Trustee, we may be able to help.
If you have a
problem with one of these or
any of the other
agencies under our jurisdiction, and you’ve been unable to
resolve it yourself, you may want to
make a complaint to our
office.
We can also investigate complaints
regarding the failure of health authorities to enforce standards
of care in
residential care facilities.
Our phones are answered by real people 8:30am to 4:30pm, Monday
to Friday.
If you do have to leave a message for us, someone will get back
to you promptly.
For examples of some of the work we’ve done with and for
seniors, please see our seniors
case summaries page. You can learn more about what we do here.
For Immediate Release
NR09-006
December 17, 2009
OMBUDSPERSON RELEASES FIRST REPORT ON CARE OF SENIORS
VICTORIA – Today
Ombudsperson Kim Carter released the first of two planned
reports on her ongoing systemic investigation into the care of
seniors in British Columbia. The report contains ten
recommendations on rights for seniors in residential care,
access to information about residential care and the role of
resident and family councils.
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Key
recommendations in The Best of Care: Getting it Right for
Seniors in British Columbia (Part 1) include: Creating a
bill of rights for seniors in residential care
(Recommendation 1a) and posting this document in a prominent
location in every facility (Recommendation 1b)
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Creating a single
provincial website containing comprehensive, comparable
information on residential care (Recommendation 2a)
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Entrenching an
expanded role for resident and family councils in
legislation (Recommendation 3a) and supporting the
development of regional family councils (Recommendation 3d).
The Ministries of Health Services and Healthy Living and Sport
have fully accepted four of the Ombudsperson’s ten
recommendations (1a, 1b, 2b and 3b) and have already taken steps
to implement Recommendation 1a through the creation of a bill of
rights for seniors living in residential care — the Health
Statutes Amendment Act (Residents’ Bill of Rights), 2009.
"A legislated bill of rights for seniors in residential care
facilities is an important step,‖ Ms. Carter said. ―When the
Residents’ Bill of Rights comes into force, seniors and their
families will have greater certainty about their rights and
therefore will be better able to exercise them."
Although the ministries have indicated they accept the intent of
the other six recommendations (1c, 1d, 2a, 3a, 3c, 3d), after
considering the ministries’ proposed actions, the Ombudsperson
believes they fall short of what is needed to remedy the
problems her office identified.
For example, the Ombudsperson recommended that a single
provincial website contain comprehensive, comparable information
about all individual residential care facilities, including
direct care hours provided per resident per day, per diem health
authority funding, personal care policies and how any complaints
have been handled (Recommendation 2a). The ministries have not
committed to creating a single provincial website containing
this type of information. They have indicated they intend to
―build on and leverage current structures‖ to improve the
accessibility, quality and consistency of information and that
they will consider which details they will make available
through the mechanism they select.
"I made this recommendation because it should be easy for people
to find out information about the services each residential care
facility offers, how much they cost, and what living there is
like. But the reality is that when seniors and their families
are faced with the daunting task of finding an appropriate
facility for themselves or a loved one, it can be difficult and
frustrating to collect these basic facts in a timely fashion,"
Ms. Carter said.
The Ombudsperson
launched her systemic investigation into the care of seniors on
August 21, 2008. The second and final report on this
investigation, which will address a broader range of seniors’
care options, is planned for release in the spring of 2010.
The Best of Care: Getting it Right for Seniors in British
Columbia (Part 1) is available at
www.bcombudsperson.bc.ca.
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