The family of an 83-year-old woman wants criminal charges brought against the long-term healthcare facility where she died, claiming she was a victim of elder abuse.
Gilberte Lemieux-Vachon died of a bedsore she received while at the Manoir Saint-Eustache on April 1, 2011. She lived at the centre following a stroke.
A Quebec Ombudsman’s report released Wednesday revealed there were gaps in the care provided to the elderly woman, and that she had no access to psychosocial and nutritional services.
With little use of her arm following the stroke, Lemieux-Vachon needed extra care from staff and was given a bell next to her bed to signal for assistance.
“Our mom told us they pushed it out of the way so she couldn't contact them,” because they thought she was too demanding, said Gilbert Vachon, her son.
When she developed a bedsore, it became a major concern for the family, he said.
“I didn't know what a bedsore is before I saw this. I thought it was a redness thing, but it is a hole. The whole is two inches by two inches in diameter,” he explained.
The Lemieux-Vachon family said it was first spotted in October 2010, but the coroner's report noted it was only mentioned in her file the following February, and she only visited a doctor a month after that.
By then, the doctor noted it was badly infected and producing a nauseating odour.
At that point, Lemieux-Vachon was admitted to hospital, where she died
The coroner concluded the bedsore led to the death, and called it preventable
Her family, along with the Association québécoise des retraité(e)s des secteurs public et parapublic say her treatment is unacceptable and are demanding better care for elderly residents of long-term care centres.
"I was deeply moved by Ms. Lemieux-Vachon's story. The circumstances under which she passed away are appalling. Nothing like this should ever happen again," said AQRP president Lyne Parent in a statement.
No one from the Manoir Saint-Eustache would comment, except to say Lemieux's death is sad, but an isolated case.
They also say they've already put in place measures to ensure something similar won’t happen again.
The AQRP said it’s about time.
More than 4,300 people in the province are on a waiting list to stay in a long-term health facility, where occupancy rates are close to 100 per cent.
Many of those facilities are in poor shape, said patients’ rights advocate Paul Brunet.
“More or less 5 per cent of all the centres we visited were in very bad shape. The others are trying hard with the budgets and resources they have to do the best they can,” said Brunet, president of the Conseil pour la protection des maladies du Québec.
The AQRP also said improvements need to be made.
As of March, a complete follow-through on recommendations made following visits to long-term health facilities in 2010-2011 is at less than 60 per cent, it noted.
With an election campaign underway, the AQRP is asking political parties to make the following promises:
- Create 5,000 new CHSLD spaces during the next term of office.
- Increase the number of inspectors to 12, to ensure that surprise appraisal visits are carried out in all CHSLDs at least once every two years.
- In less than 18 months, follow through - in their entirety and throughout Quebec - on 100 per cent of recommendations resulting from any CHSLD appraisal visit, including previous recommendations.
- Require members of professional bodies, managers and employees who work in CHSLDs to denounce any situations of elderly abuse, mistreatment or negligence.
- Set up deterrent administrative sanctions for those responsible or anyone who does not speak out when these situations occur.
