Talk to many Quebecers with loved ones in the province’s long-term-care nursing homes for the elderly and–for the most part–any conversation will likely produce a troubled wince…or something worse.
Many will tell you stories that lead to tears; others will vent.
It is all anecdotal, of course, but stories that range from abuse to neglect abound, as treatment appears to dwindle while the province attempts to get a grip on its health care funding.
Amidst the grumbles, consternation, resignation and anger, a class-action law suit was launched last year against the Centres d’herbergement de soins de long duree (CHSLDs), as the nursing homes are known in French, by a patients rights group called the Conseil pour la protection des malades (CPM).
The lead plaintiff in the class action suit against the Quebec government is Daniel Pilote, who suffers from muscular dystrophy and has lived in a CHSLD in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu for four years. (Radio-Canada)
On Monday, a Quebec Superior Court judge authorized the $500-million suit to move forward.
The suit seeks compensatory damages of $250 to $750 per resident, as well as exemplary damages of $100 per per person for each month spent in a CHSLD.
It would cover about 34,000 patients who have used the province’s CHSLDs since July 2015.
The allegations of systemic neglect and mistreatment of patients must now be proved in court.
Paul Brunet leads the patients rights group that is suing the provincial government. (cbc.ca)
“I think we have a good case,” Paul Brunet, the CPM’s executive director, told the Montreal Gazette on Monday.
“We’re very optimistic.”
Brunet added that he wouldn’t be surprised if the case is ultimately decided by the Supreme Court of Canada.
At least 400 patients have signed to be part of the suit, whose lead plaintiff is Daniel Pilote.
He is a resident of a CHSLD facility in town of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, who has muscular dystrophy and is paralysed from the neck down.
When the suit was originally filed, Pilote told reporters that he found it “inconceivable” that he had been so badly treated at the nursing home.
At this CHSLD in Drummondville, a pilot project is underway using volunteers to help take care of residents due to chronic staff shortages. (Radio-Canada)
The suit survived a legal challenge by provincial government and the province announced last week it planned to set up a committee of experts to develop a policy on long-term care.
Late last year, the Quebec ombudsman criticized the management of CHSLDs, accusing the government of reducing basic services such as hygiene to the point that pressure ulcers had become an endemic problem.
“When you tell a person, a patient, that there’s not enough people to take that person to the washroom, that he or she has to do in his diaper and that person starts crying, this is a violation of that person’s dignity,” Brunet, the patients rights advocate, told CTV News.
“And that is protected by the Canadian and Quebec Charter.”
With files from CBC, CTV, Montreal Gazette
For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.