Quebec abandons the idea of nationalizing all private CHSLDs.
This idea, repeatedly mentioned by Prime Minister François Legault during the pandemic, in particular following the carnage that occurred at the CHSLD Herron, finally gave way to a piecemeal approach.
On Friday in Magog, in the Eastern Townships, for an announcement on sports infrastructure, the Prime Minister declared that he has no intention of fixing what works, as the expression goes.
“I think it’s case by case, because there are private CHSLDs that provide excellent services. There are CHSLDs that do not provide good services. One of two things: either they improve their service, or we look at the possibility of nationalizing them. »
The Prime Minister thus said that he wanted to stay away from a wall-to-wall approach.
“I am not dogmatic. There are parties that I will not name for whom the private sector, we do not touch that. I come from the private sector and there are private CHSLDs that do a good job. The important thing is that the CISSSs and CIUSSSs properly supervise the services provided by both private and public CHSLDs. It is their responsibility, but it will be case by case. »
Abuse
However, nationalizing a CHSLD is not a guarantee of better quality. As if to demonstrate, Mr. Legault had previously been called upon to react to the report of the Québec Ombudsman, which reported serious shortcomings, akin in some cases to mistreatment, in the public CHSLDs under the leadership of the CIUSSS de Estrie.
The report, which is dated March 17, but which was made public Thursday by the Québec Ombudsman, does not identify any CHSLD in particular, although it mentions surprise visits to three of these establishments which, they do not ‘have more, are not identified. The report thus speaks of all 24 public CHSLDs of the CIUSSS de l’Estrie, without making any distinction between them.
In particular, it reports a lack of assistance to users for hydration or food, a lack of response to calls for help with going to the toilet and even practices of isolation.
“Totally unacceptable”
“I have read the report. It is totally unacceptable. We contacted the CIUSSS. I want to know first — because I want them to be accountable, the leaders of the CIUSSS — how it happened that it happened and that there were consequences, ”declared the Prime Minister, visibly shocked. of this situation.
François Legault said he obtained the assurance of the CIUSSS “that there is an action plan to solve all the problems which are in the report”, but that is not enough for him. François Legault was particularly insurgent about the fact that such events occur “after all that we have experienced for two years”.
He affirmed that the problem is “first of all a question of management: we cannot tolerate that a CIUSSS tolerates this kind of situation in CHSLDs” and he did not rule out the possibility of requesting an investigation “if c ‘is necessary “.
In its report, the Québec Ombudsman points out that the situation in CHSLDs is aggravated by a severe shortage of staff and that the CIUSSS had to develop contingency plans “to avoid a break in service in certain CHSLDs”.
The Protecteur notes that this situation has caused exhaustion and distress among staff and managers, the majority of whom among those questioned “mentioned that the care and services offered in the CHSLDs of the CIUSSS were no longer aimed at respecting good practices in terms of quality. According to them, from now on, the care teams only sought to ensure a minimum level of security and monitoring for the people housed. »