Causes of infected bedsore incidents still being investigated: minister
The province’s health minister says the issue of patients in longterm care developing bedsores that become infected often comes down to training and the province is looking into what practices may be adopted to mitigate the problem.
Randy Delorey made the comments during a post-cabinet scrum and conference call with reporters Thursday.
“It’s something we always look to improve, we know those types of conditions are challenging, so we work, review our facilities on an ongoing basis, that will continue, but we’re also looking to find best practices and get those implemented as well,” he said.
“It often comes down to training and opportunities to ensure that the best practices are adopted and implemented across the province.”
Two people — including a Cape Breton man — living in nursing homes in the province died in recent months after bedsores became badly infected.
Bedsores, also called pressure ulcers, commonly affect people who can’t move easily. They are considered preventable.
When it was suggested that the problem is caused by lack of enforcement and lack of appropriate staffing levels, Delorey said the department conducts both announced and unannounced inspections of facilities to identify issues.
“In addition to that, if people have concerns, certainly complaint-driven investigations also come up,” Delorey said.
He insisted there is a sense of urgency within the department in its approach to the reports that have originated in recent weeks, saying it’s not something that had been seen over the past several years.
Last month Premier Stephen McNeil said he would await the outcome of an ongoing investigation into nursing home staffing in the province before making any commitments to hiring more staff.
McNeil said the review will examine the situations where people have died to determine what occurred.
Norma Silverstein of Albert Bridge has sounded the alarm, saying her father John Ferguson died as a result of bedsores that became badly infected while living in a nursing home in Sydney. He died in the Cape Breton Regional Hospital on Jan. 12.
Silverstein and her husband Bob have since formed an advocacy group called Families for Quality Eldercare.
Silverstein filed a complaint requesting an investigation under the Protection of Persons in Care Act and is awaiting its final report.
Among the things the review will determine is whether the standards that are currently in place in the province were being followed in those incidents.