Families upset by lack of communication from long-term care facilities
Some families of patients in longterm care facilities have gone days, and even weeks, without speaking to their loved ones and a patients’ rights group is asking the province to correct the situation.
As Quebec rushed to lock down its seniors’ homes last month to protect against the coronavirus, one thing appears to have been forgotten: communication between patients and families.
“A lot of family members have not seen their loved ones since the shutdown, which was a month ago,” said Lucio D’intino, a board member of the Regroupement provincial des comités des usagers, which represents users groups at health establishments throughout the province.
“They’ve had no news, and no communication, and no idea about what’s going on, then they could be getting a call saying your loved one has just passed away. There’s no humanity left.”
D’intino said the situation is more than frustrating, it’s scary not to know about the situation in the establishments.
“The residents are not being told, and sometimes the information about what’s happening in the establishment doesn’t go out at all,” he said. “They see their fellow residents being transferred and aren’t told anything.
“This is happening across Quebec.”
Several family members of patients infected by the virus have contacted the Montreal Gazette to complain about the lack of information from health care establishments.
In the case of the Donald Berman Jewish Eldercare Centre, two daughters of patients who tested positive for the virus reported they have been given little information about the state of their parents’ health. The Montreal Gazette reported that 24 of that residence’s patients had tested positive for the virus. On Wednesday, the number had climbed to 31.
“Communication is so incredibly poor, it’s shameful,” said the daughter of a patient who didn’t want to give her name. “Yesterday, a nurse who could barely speak English told me my father’s test result was positive and could not answer any of my questions about what comes next. I’m not sure if you realize how much fear and anxiety that it causes . ... It is utterly heartless and totally unacceptable.”
Another woman said she only found out her mother had tested positive for the virus on Tuesday — three days after the test results had come back.
In both cases, the patients suffer dementia and can’t reach out and communicate directly with their relatives.
Dr. Mark Karanofsky, an attending staff at the residence, said a plan is being put together to keep all family members better informed.
“I can tell you that anyone who has tested positive, the families have received a phone call,” Karanofsky said. “The ones who are less in the loop are the families of the ones who have no symptoms. We are trying our best to reach as many people as possible. We’re coming up with different strategies to be able to do that.”
In the case of the Manoir Verdun, where eight people have died and more than 28 were infected with the virus, a resident only found out she had tested negative for the virus after speaking with her daughter, who had received the test results from staff at the centre.
D’intino said his group has asked for the province to put in place some sort of communication protocol, which would allow family members to speak with their loved ones and get regular updates with people who are handling their cases.
While Health Minister Danielle Mccann has announced the province is going to be pouring resources into health-care establishments to improve communication — such as purchasing ipads for video chats — that has not happened yet.
“We’re asking the minister to send out directives to all the directors general across the province to try to get something started as far as communications in concerned, not just to users committees and residents’ committees, but to the family members,” D’intino said.