The pandemic has been hard on everyone. It exerted pressure on the Quebec state, which had to adapt in order to continue to offer its services to the population. The labor shortage has aggravated the situation. Result: a series of dominoes that tumble down and which, in the end, hit the most vulnerable in society.
This is what emerges from the annual report of the Québec Ombudsman tabled on Thursday and which covers a full year of health crisis. This report is a catalog of everything that went wrong in the machinery of government. A review of the negative experiences of citizens who have often come up against rigid bureaucracy or arbitrary decisions.
An example: the services offered to natural caregivers and caregivers of people with disabilities, those to whom our health system turns more and more to make up for the lack of resources. These caregivers were entitled to respite. Beds were reserved for their loved one while they catch their breath. However, these beds were transformed into permanent accommodation places which were then offered to others. Consequence: caregivers, exhausted and discouraged, in turn demand permanent accommodation places for their loved one. It is the serpent biting its own tail.
Another example: the total or partial breakdown of service of daytime activities intended for adults with an intellectual disability or an autism spectrum. These vulnerable people, who live at home, found themselves isolated and confined during the pandemic. The consequence is a state of depression or regression, to the great despair of their caregivers.
The Ministry of Health and Social Services had nevertheless committed, in 2020, to improving assistance for caregivers and diversifying the respites intended for them. The Québec Ombudsman reminds him of his commitments and invites him to act on them quickly.
Another vulnerable clientele targeted in the report: people living in CHSLDs. A year ago, the Québec Ombudsman filed a devastating special report on the impact of the first year of the pandemic in these establishments. Marie Rinfret, who held the position of Public Protector at the time, had undertaken to follow up on the implementation of her recommendations. We will have to wait for the 2023 annual report to find out more, but if the document tabled Thursday is an indicator, we risk being disappointed. It’s written in black and white: the labor shortage is jeopardizing the health and safety of CHSLD clients, who are experiencing a growing number of medication errors, postponed baths, etc. Nothing reassuring.
Taken one by one, the cases cited in this report can sometimes seem anecdotal or banal. In many cases, the complaints handled by the Québec Ombudsman – more than 10,000 – were settled by a phone call or a file review. But some complaints reveal deeper shortcomings experienced by very vulnerable citizens.
This is what should hold our attention. These unacceptable situations risk crystallizing if nothing is done.
What the Québec Ombudsman wants to tell us is to pay attention to the progressive and generalized deterioration of the services offered by the State. To their dehumanization too.
Marc-André Dowd, who succeeded Marie Rinfret last March, is committed to paying particular attention to vulnerable clienteles during his five-year mandate. He is right.
We must remain vigilant in a context where the pandemic and the many shortages have a broad back. They do not justify everything.