You are currently browsing all posts tagged with 'incompetence'.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 entries.

Sixteen Years of Experience but of what

  • Posted on November 3, 2010 at 11:12 am
Share|
This entry is part 6 of 12 in the series Making A Difference

So today’s delightful substitute was Agnes.

She claimed to have many years of experience, in providing home support care for people, but I wonder, for what kind of people?  Were they bed ridden, or mentally challenged? Were they actually HUMAN?

When you enter a home, with a chip on your shoulder, rest assured, I’ll be quick to knock it off.  Rudeness & Arrogance will only get you a steely stare and I will STAND LOOKING OVER YOUR SHOULDER.

One might warm up to her, over time, but you know, I doubt it.  This is one substitute, in a long list of many, that is never going to set foot in our home again.  I don’t give a rat’s ass at how much experience she claims to have, because frankly she doesn’t know a damn thing about caring for an elderly women.

When MOM has to tell her to go easy, to walk behind her, I tend to doubt that she knows squat about working with an older person, and that is just the beginning.  Like uh, you dont force runnes on a person with brittle bones, you take your time and work it on.  NOT AGNES.

No, there is no doubt in my mind now, that it is time to take the gloves back off, to unleash all I can, to insure that Beacon Community Services is put under a microscope, and that those who cover for them, are put under an even more intense public scrutiny.

It is time to try and make VIHA, and our Government, ACCOUNTABLE.

Continue reading Sixteen Years of Experience but of what »

Care to leave a comment?

No Rest For The Wicked

  • Posted on September 23, 2010 at 10:00 am
Share|

Who is the Wicked One?  ME!  (lol)

The whole concept of Home Support, is to provide respite for the main care giver. In my Mother’s case, that is me.   However, the simple truth is, that for most of the time, Home Support (as provided by VIHA & Beacon Community Services)is anything but helpfull.

The constant worry over who will show up, & how capable they are, is a drain of one’s natural reserves.  Reserves we (24/7 care givers) need to deal with the minute by minute stress of caring for an elderly parent.  YES, so far the schedule is holding, for the most part, but like I’ve mentioned, in 60 weeks of daily service, we have had our schedule be completed only ONCE without changes. 

THOSE AREN’T GOOD ODDS, NO MATTER HOW YOU SLICE IT.

Today I am sick, feeling like Hell, but I have to remain vigilant, because what choice is there? A worker can call in sick, but how do we, the full time care givers, call in sick?  It’s not possible.   Oh, I know, we can call on Beacon Community Services to provide a worker, so I can go rest, but I can’t do that.

The reason is simple.  I cannot trust that the worker being provided would be competent, unless it was one of the few we now trust. And to request them, simply for my comfort would mean robbing someone else of their skills.  Something I am not prepared to do. You can’t just talk the talk, you have to walk the line too.

The solution rests in insuring that the MAJORITY of Home Support Workers are like those we now trust.  Instead, we are faced where these trusted & qualified workers, ARE THE EXCEPTION.

I need to sleep, to rest more, but can’t due to the constant worry over who will show up tomorrow, irrespective of what the schedule says. I need to take time off, but can’t, because there is no one to take my place, so I am a prisoner, to my own sense of responsibility.

This is Care Giving 101, it is also called LOVE FOR YOUR PARENT.

Continue reading No Rest For The Wicked »

Care to leave a comment?

And So It Begins

  • Posted on August 9, 2010 at 9:42 am
Share|
This entry is part 1 of 7 in the series Vacation Hell

Four weeks of Hell, thanks to Beacon Community Services begins today, and with a bang too.

At 11pmlast night, the schedule had Eun-Young coming this morning at 9am.  At 9am this morning, the schedule showed her coming at 10AM.    Again, NO NOTICE given, so that a 93 year old wouldn’t be left sitting on the edge of her bed, wondering where her worker was, or what was happening.

Fortunately I am here to follow up, but what about all those who have no one? 

  • Do they get any notice?
  • Are they left alone, wondering & worrying?
  • Is it a common occurrence?

This is WRONG, and yet VIHA seems unwilling to even check up on these matters. They don’t contact the patients who THEYhave placed in the care of this Corporate Behemoth, that doesn’t give a damn about the people it’s to care for.  IT is obvious, the only consideration Beacon has, is for the short shifting of the more highly paid workers, and the added profits it can make.

Again something is WRONG about that entire scenario.  Makes you wonder, when will, [ if ever ] will our Government start to do its job, and WORK FOR THE PEOPLE NOT THE CORPORATE INTERESTS

Continue reading And So It Begins »

Care to leave a comment?

Enexpected Worker

  • Posted on March 28, 2010 at 10:34 am
Share|

IF a company has the time to change the schedule shown to their Patients, THEY OBVIOUSLY HAVE THE TIME TO CALL THE PATIENTS.

NOT BEACON COMMUNITY SERVICES THOUGH.

It is very obvious to me, that Beacon Community Services hasn’t a clue about how to manage its workers, its Patients, and that VIHA should NOT RENEW the contract for this incompetent agency.

IF a new worker comes to the home, they should be able to communicate in the language of the Patient, and they should also be prepared to show Identification UPON ENTRY.  Not wait to be asked TWICE.

A new worker, should be briefed, BY BEACON prior to arriving at the home, and if they are going to rely on the SO CALLED YELLOW BOOK, then that book should be UPDATED REGULARLY & NOT JUST WHEN YELLED AT TO DO SO!

While I do not buy into the BS that Beacon hands out, and while I firmly believe that this MONEY MAKING AGENCY needs to lose its contract, I also firmly believe that those managing VIHA need to be removed as well.

VIHA is the Government Arm responsible for the decisions on companies hired to provide care to US, THE TAXPAYERS & CITIZENS.

BE RATHER IMPORTANT THAT THEY INSURE WE ARE RECEIVING VALUE FOR OUR MONEY, AND THAT ISSUES ARE BEING BROUGHT FORWARD, ADDRESSED & CORRECTED.

VIHA DOES NOT DO THIS AT ALL!

It is March 28th, 2010 and the last call, visit from anyone from VIHA about Mother’s care, was on September 4th 2009.

Think about it. They have allowed these people to send strangers into my home, to care for my 92 year old mother, and not bothered to contact me ONCE IN OVER SIX MONTHS!

SO MUCH FOR PROTECTING THE SICK, THE ELDERLY, THE HELPLESS

And considering just how much money the head of VIHA makes, it is a travesty.

Yes, it is the fault of the current government, however the NDP seem as incompetent in dealing with this issue, as the current regime is. I have written to the Health Critic, back in September, and STILL HAVE NO RESPONSE FROM ADRIAN DIX. 

SO MUCH FOR CAROL JAMES & HER GRANDSTANDING MOUTHING OFF ABOUT GIVING US BACK OUR PROVINCE.   IT IS NOTHING BUT POLITICAL RHETORIC, NO DIFFERENT THAN THE CLAIMS BY THE CAMPBELL GOVERNMENT.

It is a sad state of affairs, when our elderly are left to the whims of private agencies, whose only goal, is to make money.  And while they claim to be NON PROFIT, explain how a company that isn’t making money, suddenly able to BUY UP THEIR COMPETITION UNTIL THEY HAVE A NEAR MONOPOLY?

Continue reading Enexpected Worker »

Care to leave a comment?

Simple, ASK ME!

  • Posted on March 3, 2010 at 10:27 am
Share|

You know, it really isn’t fair, to the worker, to mother, to me, to be sent in cold to a place. AND yet, that is what happens when you send a substitute in, without giving them any information on what is expected of them, of what they are about to face.

Beacon Community Services needs a real lesson in how to manage the care they provide. VIHA needs to have their procedures examined, and CORRECTED, before they endanger more people.

First off, a substitute needs to be told what condition their patient is in, what medical realities they have, so as to not assume that a 92 year old, can do what a bloody 50 year old can. Such as standing, without anyone near by, or walking with a walker, without anyone standing behind.

They need to know if the Patient has sensitive skin, has brittle bones, and other conditions that determine HOW ONE HOLDS THEM, HOW ONE TOUCHES THEM.   Yet Beacon Community Services ignores that, and okay, they have thousands to deal with, but what about the actual worker?

Why can’t the worker, BEFORE THEY START, ask me?  After all, I am the one who let them in, I am the primary caregiver, so I should know, shouldn’t I?

The GOOD ONES do ask, but today’s worker was here a few months back, so I guess she figures she is able to figure it out.  WRONG!   Things change, the strength, the conditions, all change, but this one knows it all, and instead of asking me, is asking a 92 year old, who can’t hear well, who doesn’t talk well, who’s thought process gets a bit confused at times, but hey, this worker knows better.

SHE DOESN’T NEED TO ASK ME.      BULLSHIT!

It isn’t all that complicated, tedious perhaps, but not complicated.  So why do these women do this? Why make it more stressful, when common sense should rule, should tell them, “hey this is a new situation, let me ask the fat guy who let me in, what the routine is”  but no, that might be a sign of something. I don’t know what, but I was taught, if you don’t know something, YOU ASK SOMEONE!

And next week, we get three days of substitutes, if not four days. 

Continue reading Simple, ASK ME! »

Care to leave a comment?

SEO Powered by Platinum SEO from Techblissonline