McFarland Home Residents Council will tell council it’s not happy
Administrator | Dec 14, 2015 | Comments 19
Council will hear Tuesday night that residents and families at the County-owned H.J. McFarland Home are not happy.
Joy Vervoort, representing the home’s Family Council, will speak to council about a number of issues including the increase in number of non-compliance over 2012 and 2014 inspection reports, about managment and a lack of consultation and communication, changes and costs.
The deputation to council shares the Family Council’s issues and concerns:
– 34 Non Compliances issued in the recent Inspection Report undertaken by the
Ministry of Health and Long Term Care; (increase in number of non compliance over the 2014 and 2012 Inspection Reports)
– St. Elizabeth Management – lack of knowledge of applicable legislation and policy related to the Long Term Care Act and policy regulations as highlighted in the Inspection Report
– Lack of consultation and communication on the part of both the St. Elizabeth Management Team and Commissioner of Finance and Admin for the County in development and implementation of changes in the Home affecting both staff and
residents (Palliative Care Room, Closure of the Chapel, Dining Room Changes, Removal
of the additional PSW position on the 3 to 9 shift in Willow Wing, foot care services, etc)
– Lack of accessibility to the Director of Care to address concerns of residents or their families
– Pervasive atmosphere within the HJ McFarland Memorial Home and impact on the
residents and staff;
– Incremental cost of the St. Elizabeth contract vs. in-house staff for the positions of
Administrator and Director of Resident Care.
November’s Resident Quality Inspection Report resulted in 20 notifications.
A report to council states management will maintain its focus on continuing to improve the quality of living experience for the 84 residents while working toward full compliance.
Inspection findings noted the home failed to ensure there was a written plan of care for each resident that set out clear directions to staff and others who provide direct care to the resident.
Others findings involved mostly administrative duties concerning reports; fall risk safety and toileting; alarms; timely charting and lingering offensive odours in a number of bathrooms.
It was also found the home often works short-staffed.
All registered staff are to be re-trained in the importance of highlighting plan of care updates and other staff re-education in the expectations for regular attention to care plans.
Some of the home’s furnishings and equipment were found to be in need of repair. Hallways and doorways and some bathrooms were not large enough for modern wheelchairs and other equipment.
There was also no quarterly trend analysis on complaints.
Council in its budget deliberations did not approve a request for an additional $70,000 a year position to further handle administrative duties as it is already paying Saint Elizabeth $600,000 to handle the duties.
Saint Elizabeth Health Care was hired in December 2014 for an 18-month term. The change resulted from the termination by the County of two former administrators.
Filed Under: Local News
agree with you Heather.
This Mcfarland NEEDS More PSW;s
meanwhile i read that they got rid of one from the evening shift (when they need more)
overworked.employees and the residents dont get the care they pay for or deserve.
of course residents have to wait and wait for help if One psw is running around trying to take care of many residents at once.
WHat really bothers me is the extra 300,000 per year they paid the TEMP AGENCY
that 30o
could have paid for MORE psw’s and other things fixed in the home.
They couldnt even pay a company to come and fix up the front in the summer time
SHire hall should have been embarrassed with a Home with the front full of weeds like an abandon house.
Finally the residents fixed it up in August
I became a PSW six years ago and was appalled, when I did my LTC Placement, that the average ratio was 12 to 16 residents for ONE PSW! That is wrong on so many levels and it hasn’t changed. During mealtimes there is one extra on hand for an extra hour or two. I have worked in retirement homes that have one PSW on duty from 3 p.m. to 7 a.m. All it takes is one emergency, one fall, one call that goes on too long…and the whole house of cards collapses. On top of answering all the calls the PSW has to do the laundry and various other cleaning jobs. ONE PSW!! I worked at one place that required the PSW to walk residents dogs. 3 dogs got walked every shift for 15 minutes each. While the PSW was outside a resident fell and could not get up. She had to wait until the DOG was returned to it’s room 2 floors upstairs before the PSW could help the resident!! The whole system is wrong, is unsafe, is not set up with common sense or resident care in mind at all. No wonder PSW’s are burned out and residents get hurt. Nobody is doing anything to fix any part of it and the homes scramble and lie at inspection time. Buyer beware..when they say there is a PSW on duty 24/7 that means ONE per ALL residents on 2 out of 3 shifts in a retirement facility and probably a LTC home for the overnight shift. It is not healthy for anyone. One PSW per 5 residents is a good number to aim for.
Why is the Commissioner not providing answers and information to the residents and why is that deemed acceptable by Council??
Thank you for the link to the report. The report was NOT at Mcfarland when our family member looked for it. (as of 1 week ago)
2) yes Commissioner S Turnball.
and Yes i agree.with “When does Council seek accountability from it’s top paid employees?”
Im sure they say they didnt know this would happen etc.
1) 1st. when she and (who else was responsible) fired the other managers and brought temporary people in, Residents did NOT know . Some were upset and wondered who these strangers parading up an down the halls.
There were several at first. dressed all in black. so it scared people.
2). FInally a letter came out telling family. that temp employees were overseeing the home
3) Phone calls and letter were sent to S. Turnball commissioner with concerns and feeling that this was NOT GOING TO WORK
they ignored all calls.
and now look what happened.
I think she should be accountable and FIREd. actually.
thank you
Home inspection reports are available to the public
http://publicreporting.ltchomes.net/en-ca/homeprofile.aspx?Home=m556&tab=1
We have a Commissioner who is responsible for the McFarland Home and ensuring it meets compliance. When does Council seek accountability from it’s top paid employees?
If the residents have not received the services that they pay dearly for perhaps some refunds in lieu of care are in order. You cannot charge for services not provided. This would be a reasonable course of action for residents and families to pursue.
It should be posted on the County site and it should be posted in the McFarland Home for residents and families to peruse.
Could the County please post the Ministry Inspection Report for our McFarland Home on their website so that residents, families and ratepayers have access?
Well the County are the one’s that have oversight. Or the lack of.
We may all be in the home and so it should be cleaned up .
First our Children’s Aid Society and now the county home. It’s disgusting that this sort of thing is happening in our community. Children and the elderly, the most vulnerable members of our society,have been victimized by inexcusable mismanagement.
where has the county council representative been. obviously not too concerned. we m
need one that is visable and has some interest. this person should be ashamed. when new people are hired in such an important position there should be a close watch on their activities.
According to news reports from last night’s council, it would appear that our McFarland Home is in one awful mess affecting appropriate care. This has been going on for some time. It’s time for an independent review and determining why the County oversight has failed us.
Who is accountable for the oversight? There lies the answers to the issues.
What was gained by closing the chapel? Where is the savings there?
The heart of a nursing home are the front line staff. PSW, RPN. They have the hands on with the residents. In my 35 years being a PSW the problem is the institution is top heavy. If management treated their staff better you might see the shortage of staff on weekends slow down and even stop. The Director of Nursing use to support the staff. Now it is called Director of Resident Care.
All staff are there for resident care. Staff need some one to direct them. Now they feel all alone with no support. Yes, our family member who live in that home need respect and consistency.
It is hard to believe that once again, Residents and families need to go directly to Council to be listened to. Residents in our Long Term Care Homes are some of our most vulnerable citizens. They deserve better than this…. To take away their chapel without consultation? To take away the Palliative Care suite, also without consultation? It is unbelievable that they would be treated with such blatant disregard and disrespect. The recent quality inspection by the Ministry even states that the Commissioner failed to respond to inquiries made by the Family Council.
Make no mistake…. there is no hiding the fact that quality has drastically decreased in the Home. The Resident Quality Inspection found 20 areas of non-compliance, up from the 11 areas in the 2014 inspection (which by the way was the average number of findings in all Homes in Hastings/ Prince Edward counties).
A quick review of the 13 Homes in the local area shows that the average number of non-compliances for 2015 is 7.85. McFarland Home greatly exceeds the average.
The genuine caring of the staff is what made the Home a Home. Obviously, if they are overworked, overstressed and feeling disrespected and not listened to, then this will affect the care the Residents receive.
It appears that poor leadership and management over the last year has sent this home spiraling downwards. Throughout the Resident Quality Inspection, whenever asked questions, the St Elizabeth leadership team either claimed ignorance or pointed their fingers at the overworked staff and blamed them.
These inspection reports are public and can be found at publicreporting.ltchomes.net
well hey I complained a year ago about hiring the Temp agency. i left messages about my concerns,
iF only they would use that 300,000 extra to hire what they REALLY NEED
which is MORE care. More front line.
the ratio of psw to resident is poor
the poor girls overworked
and cant give the care they would like too.
residents left waiting and many times cant get care (becaue the girls are running after MANY other residentS)
residents are not getting the Great care
that
Hiring this Temp team is promising.
commissioner sent out letters saying that residents will still get exceptional care
they have not
got exceptional care
waiting and waiting and waiting for help is not exceptional
residents are told they are lying when they say they have been waiting too.
thank you