caregivers groups worried exhausted families will have to take on more work
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groups representing caregivers in quebec fear the province’s new contingency plan for hospitals could further burden family members already exhausted from two years of the pandemic.
announced on tuesday, one of the axes of the plan is to call on families and caregivers to help care for patients, both inside and out of hospitals.
but for some caregivers, the thought of being asked to do even more after the turmoil of the last two years is inconceivable, said the regroupement des aidantes et aidants naturels de montréal.
“in one word, we’re worried,” said the group’s director, nathalie déziel. “and we’re really concerned that families and caregivers, who are already drained, will now need to make impossible choices for their loved ones.”
saying it has to prepare for all possible scenarios, quebec presented its plan tuesday for how hospitals will need to adjust if the health network becomes overwhelmed by covid-19 patients in the coming weeks.
the plan presents ways of increasing hospital capacity, including by trying to reduce patient admissions, shortening hospital stays when possible, and moving more patients toward at-home services.
if the province’s hospital capacity is met, it also calls for quebec to lower the standard of care it provides to be able to treat more people at once. authorities described this tuesday as offering “b” level care to more people instead of offering “a+” care to fewer people.
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but before reaching that point, quebec hopes families and caregivers can play a key role in helping free up resources inside the hospital network.
health authorities explained caregivers could be asked to provide basic care in hospitals, allowing staff to instead focus on more clinical duties.
if patients are sent home earlier than usual to free up a hospital bed, the province would also rely on caregivers and at-home care services to ensure the offloaded patients are being taken care of.
for déziel, however, the plan is concerning on two fronts.
for one, she said, it’s been documented there isn’t enough at-home care services in quebec to meet demand. secondly, she added, the shift comes while many caregivers are barely hanging on after two years of caring for vulnerable loved ones.
mélanie perroux, director of proche aidance québec, echoed similar concerns.
“we were extremely surprised by the idea, because since the beginning of the pandemic, caregivers have already been doing their part to help as much as possible,” perroux said.
“so it’s not as if they would be calling in fresh soldiers to help,” she added. “they would be calling on people who are already exhausted and often already overwhelmed by their own situations.”
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meanwhile, in light of the plan, three professional orders governing health workers are reminding their members to maintain their standards and ethical obligations.
in a joint statement released wednesday, quebec’s college of physicians, order of nurses and order of pharmacists warned current covid-19 projections suggest the province’s hospital network has reached a “saturation point” that presents “exceptional challenges.”
“but the three orders expect their members to continue providing safe, quality care,” the statement said, “and remain completely committed, despite the immense challenge of adapting care during a health emergency.”
and though the orders said they understand the situation calls for the exceptional measures the contingency plan put forward, they said it needs to be done in a way that still respects good practices.
“in a context of limited resources, certain choices must be made in order to respond as efficiently as possible to serious and urgent health problems,” the statement said.
the orders, it continues, “reiterate that their members must respect their ethical obligations, but agree that the interpretation of the codes of ethics will have to take into account the availability of resources at the time the care is provided or the services offered.”
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