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Assaulting Old People | Disposable People

  • Posted on January 1, 2012 at 10:38 am
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It is a New Year today, and Beacon Community Services is starting the New Year off with a Bang.

First they alter the morning schedule, to make the regular worker arrive a half hour later.  Course they don’t bother to let us know, so Mom was sitting on the edge of her bed, in preparation for the Worker.  Course her balance isn’t good, so actually she was leaning backwards, in a rather uncomfortable position.

As well, her sheets were pushed back, but not far enough, so they rested on the wet towel that we have under her, and in putting the pillows behind her, well they got wet from last night’s urine too.

THIS WAS TO BE MY SLEEP IN DAY

Guess an hour extra will do, though not really.  Meantime Mom is a bit nervous, and in checking to see when Yvette was to arrive, hey, the afternoon worker has now been changed.

NO CALL – NO NOTICE  from Beacon Community Services.

I mean honestly, it is blastered all over our account, to call when there is a change, of any kind, of any time frame.

I GUESS THE PEOPLE ON DUTY SIMPLY CANNOT READ ENGLISH

So today will be one of added stress for me, for Mom.  New person in the afternoon, which means here I go again, having to stand guard because the quality of workers is Piss Poor.   Most seem unable to grasp the basic concept that their primary duty is to keep the PATIENT SAFE, while doing their assigned tasks.

Privacy while one sits on the commode seems a foreign concept to these people.

As does understanding what the words SHAKY & UNSTEADY mean.

Truth is, Beacon Community Services is about making MONEY and the people they make it off of, are simply a COMMODITY that is DISPOSABLE.

Kill off one, there are lots more to replace them with, at a fee of $37 or more per hour, paid for by YOU & ME!

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It Is the Aftermath That Will Kill

  • Posted on September 27, 2011 at 8:51 am
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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.

  1. IF VIHA DID ITS JOB, IT WOULD INSURE THAT ANY PRIVATE COMPANY SENDING WORKERS INTO THE HOME, WERE ALL 100% QUALIFIED.
  2. 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.

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Hire People With Brains Beacon

  • Posted on August 21, 2011 at 8:22 am
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Or at least get someone as a scheduler who can FRIGGING READ INSTRUCTIONS.

Once again a change in the schedule, so a 94 year old sits on the edge of her bed, worrying what has happened to the regular worker. It is plain incompetence, and damn cruel too. What about those elderly people, who have no one at home to tell them?

What about those who are right now, sitting in soiled undergarments, waiting for a worker who may or may not show up?

Does Beacon Community Services give a damn?  NO BLOODY WAY

Does VIHA care that SUB STANDARD CARE is being provided at taxpayer expense?  NO BLOODY WAY

Take a not people, sit on your asses now, and when you get to be aged, and in need of help, you better be damn sure you got private care coverage, because YOUR government contracts out the services, to MINDLESS CORPORATE BOOBS!   The one and ONLY CONCERN of Beacon Community Services, is to MAKE MONEY TO PAY FOR THE CEO SALARY.

This is what happens when you stay home Election Day.  You get a Government run by Corporations instead of by you, the VOTER.   Wake up, if you want to have a society you can be proud of, and be part of.

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It Really Is a Catch 22

  • Posted on August 16, 2011 at 8:55 pm
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It would seem that our Provincial Government has opted to NOT authorize Mom’ for some medication, to help combat her groin infection.  To be honest, it is a rather confusing system, our Pharmacare.

I can understand the need to try the cheaper variety first. I mean hell, some of those knockoffs work just fine, but when they don’t, well come on, at least see if the fancy name brand shit will work. I mean that is common sense, right?

NOT according to our Government.

Now there is also this insane bullshit, that certain drugs for diseases aren’t covered. Like Mom’s infection is basically a yeast infection. It impacts her daily quality of life, and yet Pharmacare doesn’t seem to think that medication that helps that, should be covered.

Perhaps our Premier, Christie Clark has never had a yeast infection, that made it difficult for her to walk, to even rest comfortably.  I suppose that her predecessor  Gordon Campbell never had one either. Maybe all that alcohol he imbibed helped him become immune?

I suppose it is a common malady, but come on, the lady needing help here is NINETY FOUR YEARS OLD.  Surely that alone should allow for some consideration, or is it that because she is that old, who gives a fuck?  Personally, I kind of think that is the real reason behind some of these decisions.  Obviously quality of life for the elderly IS NOT a priority for any of our Elected Officials. ( That includes all of the parties, not just our Provincial Liberals. )

You know, I would love to be around when people like Stephen Harper and Christie Clark are in their late eighties, and they need special medications, that aren’t covered by Pharmacare. ( assuming we even have that, then )  And that they are dependent on the Public Health System for it, and have NO outside sources of income to cover those added LUXURY ITEMS.   

Wonder then, if they would regret their decisions made today.

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It’s Just One Day, Right?

  • Posted on August 14, 2011 at 9:04 am
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What does one day of inconvenience matter to a person who is 94?

Shit happens, right? I mean a worker gets sick, or goes on holidays, so its life, not a big deal, right? 

Uh, NO!

You can’t help it when people get sick, nor can you expect them to not take vacations, but IF ( and in the case of Beacon Community Services, that is a HUGE IF ) you are a responsible business, you plan for those occurrences.  After all, you know it will happen, so smart business people plan for it.

Obvious that Beacon Community Services is not run by Smart People.  Just GREEDY ones.

Today’s debacle was slightly muted by the fact that the substitute was familiar and competent.  The regular worker however, wasn’t informed of the change until this morning, nor was the substitute.   Isn’t that nice, a great way to treat your employees. 

Thing is, I saw the change on the schedule Friday evening.   How come the workers weren’t informed then?

Only reason I found out, and checked the schedule was that my normal sleep in day was changing. David needed to so something this morning, so we swapped sleep in days.  First I checked to insure we had the regular worker.  As there was a change for today, it worked out okay to swap sleep in days.

Course, NO CALL FROM BEACON to inform us of the change, so IF I hadn’t checked the schedule, this would have been a surprise.  It also means, that if I hadn’t changed days with David, I’d have lost my sleep in day, because when it’s a substitute, I have to be up, to handle it.

And they wonder why I get upset at them?  When you get only one day per week, to sleep in, it is a big deal. It is the only time for it, when you can let your guard down, for a few extra hours.  Doesn’t mean the sleep is any more restful, just that you get more of it.  That helps a guy get through the rest of the week, but that is about me, not Mom.

AND THAT IS WHAT MATTERS…  MOM

Seniors of her advanced years are more prone to having things go wrong. Upsetting the routine, only acerbates those conditions she is dealing with, on a daily basis. Right now for example, her groin infection has a sore within it. It is extremely tender, and so extra care has to be taken in the cleaning & drying. Something a regular worker would know, and handle.  A substitute, no matter how good, isn’t going to know it as well, or do it as well.  

Add into that, the lack of knowledge on the routine, on how to assist Mom in being washed, and you have a needless painful experience for someone, first thing in the morning.  Now today’s worker is good, but hasn’t been here for awhile. And so she isn’t quite sure how to get Mom in and out of the bathroom, how to handle her.  It isn’t her fault, but it is BCS’s fault, because the regular worker wasn’t sick, she was simply swapped over elsewhere.

I repeat myself, but it is critical for the care of Seniors, that routine be kept in tact, as much as is humanly possible. It is also very critical that when substitutes are necessary, that they are capable to handle all contingencies, not just be treating people all the same.  Each person is different, and advance notice for both the patient, the caregiver, the support worker, is vital to insure that the disruption of the routine is mitigated as much as possible.

Again, something Beacon Community Services UTTERLY FAILS AT ACCOMPLISHING.

But then, should anyone be surprised, as this is about business,

not about caring for people.

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How Quickly Things Can Change

  • Posted on June 2, 2011 at 8:33 am
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This entry is part 22 of 24 in the series Quality of Life

Another example of why it is important to have regular workers.  They know the average, they can spot the subtle changes, such as just how wet she is, in the morning, or how much better a toe looks, or doesn’t look.

Like last night, everything was fine, but not this morning.

Mom is fighting a toe fungal infection, and it looked like we had finally under control, until this morning. Suddenly there is swelling around the little toe, and the redness is back.  It is also very painful, which means the wheeler, instead of the walker.

Saturday & Sunday are scheduled substitutes.  Oh this is not going to be fun, because the two scheduled, are okay, but not for when she is in pain. Specially the one scheduled for Sunday. Problem is, Beacon simply does NOT have enough qualified workers, to substitute.

AND NOW Mom, a lady of 94, will suffer because of it.  This is the NEW ORDER, established by the Conservatives. Oh you can call the Provincial Government Liberals, call them Socialists even, but it doesn’t alter the fact that they are nothing more than an imitation of the Harper Alliance Party.

Yes we do need to watch the money, but we need to get VALUE for the money we spend. BCS needs to update it’s employees, so that qualified workers are hired, not just cheap fill ins. The Government needs to MONITOR these employees, and NOT RELY ON BEACON to run a tight and effecient and competent ship.

Call them a Charity if you want, but the bottom line for them, and for VIHA, is PROFITS.

AND IT IS THE OLD AND INFIRMED THAT PAY THE PRICE FOR THAT, AT THE EXPENSE OF THEIR HEALTH, OF THEIR QUALITY OF LIFE.

Continue reading How Quickly Things Can Change »

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