How do the people of Beacon Community Services sleep at night? For that matter how does the head honcho at VIHA sleep at night?
After all, they MUST know that their decisions literally impact thousands of people, and NOT in a good way. I constantly worry about how good of a care I am providing for my 94 year old Mother. I think I do okay, but still, I worry, and yet I see stupid decisions by VIHA and BCS ( Beacon Community Services ) that makes me wonder, if they even know what it means to PROVIDE HEALTH CARE TO THE ELDERLY.
Sunday’s worker was nice, bubbly, but totally useless when it came to bathing Mom and helping her get dressed. The lack of caring to even read the care plan PRIOR to arriving, or to even ASK QUESTIONS BEFORE COMMENCING, shows that once again Beacon Community Services are hiring untrained, unqualified, uncaring personnel, to care for Seniors.
What Beacon and VIHA fail to get, is that this type of attitude creates unnecessary stress for the elder person, ( not to mention the primary caregiver ) that doesn’t just end when the worker leaves the home. IT LINGERS, and has serious implications, that can, over time, KILL THE SENIOR.
It takes Mom about 2 or 3 days to regain her composure, and that is assuming nothing else shows up to rock the boat. In those 2 or 3 days, her system reacts to the stress, by increased tremors of the body, that CAN lead to a serious fall, and injury. It plays games with her mind, and in Mom’s case, also leads to a serious of ( what the doctor calls ) mini strokes.
Eventually those mini strokes can develop into a full blown one, and that could most certainly KILL HER.
The aftermath also includes worry, fear, that preys on her fragile mind, that makes her fixate on things, that make her nervous, that impact my day too. I have to spend a lot more time cajoling, and reassuring her, than normal.
Some may say that is part of the job, part of the hazards of caring for one’s elderly parent, but the thing is, IT IS TOTALLY UNNECESSARY.
- IF VIHA DID ITS JOB, IT WOULD INSURE THAT ANY PRIVATE COMPANY SENDING WORKERS INTO THE HOME, WERE ALL 100% QUALIFIED.
- IF BEACON COMMUNITY SERVICES WERE ABOUT HOME CARE, THEY WOULD INSURE THAT THEIR WORKERS WERE FULLY TRAINED AND QUALIFIED BEFORE SENDING THEM OUT ON THE JOB.
The reality is, that VIHA is merely looking for a way to lessen its responsibilities to the people of this region, and to SAVE MONEY. Beacon Community Services isn’t about home support, or care, but is about PROFITS ONLY.
The aftermath of a rotten worker, isn’t just added stress to me, or even to my Mother. It is that over time, depending on how strong Mom’s character is, the aftermath of the policies of the Vancouver Island Health Authority, and of their partner and co-conspirator Beacon Community Services is
DEATH FOR THE ELDERLY
Guess that is how they plan to save money, kill them off, and wash their hands of it.
Today, without warning, once more Beacon Community Services pulled another of its famous SWITCHES.
A substitute was sent, without any notice. Just as we enter the 2nd day of dealing with the aftermath from Sunday, we begin the process all over again today. My day now becomes filled with having to be extra cautious, extra aware, in order to try and prevent any serious repercussions, of a sudden, unexpected change in Mom’s routine.
When a person can afford private care, these issues don’t really exist. If the assigned worker is sub standard, they are simply fired from the job. A new agency can be hired, if the old one is not living up to its contract.
- Neither the owner of Beacon Community Services, nor the upper echelon of VIHA have to worry on that score, They all can afford Private Health Care, as can our Premier and Health Minister.
And yet, VIHA continues to pour MILLIONS of dollars into Beacon Community Services, despite KNOWING that the care they supply to Vancouver Island Seniors is not just SUB STANDARD but borders on ELDER ABUSE.
We will have more MINI STROKES, that hopefully she’ll recover from, as she usually does. BUT, there is coming a time when she won’t, and that means a lower quality of life for a 94 year old lady, that has done nothing wrong, to deserve such misery. AND that is the best we can hope for, because it could also mean she will die.
No one gives a shit, not the personnel at VIHA who implement these stupid contracts, and most certainly not the people at Beacon Community Services, who simply are looking towards that paycheck. They want the shiny new cars, the iPhones and Blackberry’s, so what if it means old people are hurt, are stressed out and driven into fear and worry 24/7.
Least they get their new shiny toys.