There has been significant dialogue recently regarding changes in hospital care at Island Health. I want to assure our staff and the public that I have full confidence in the quality of care that is being delivered within Island Health and in the staff delivering care at all Island Health sites.
Health care continues to evolve. As leaders in health and the stewards of your health-care system, it is our job to advance our processes to meet the needs of our diverse population, now and in the future.
At Island Health, the way forward is a delivery model we refer to as Care Delivery Model Redesign. The changes being implemented through CDMR are not unique 鈥� health-care systems across the province, the country and the world are implementing similar changes.
Your care is personal and your care needs are different than those of your neighbour. Island Health is moving to a system of care that is designed with the unique needs of the individual in mind. An aging population and advances in medical therapies and technology have had significant impact on the type of care hospital patients require.
Over the past 25 years, hospital utilization by patients over age 85 in Island Health facilities has nearly tripled. These frail elderly patients often need the most help with basic activities such as bathing, dressing, eating and getting to the washroom. Maintaining these basic activities while in hospital leads to shorter stays, and a greater likelihood of returning home as opposed to moving into residential care. CDMR includes the use of health care assistants that will help hospital patients with these basic tasks.
Island Health conducted a detailed analysis of how health-care providers in hospitals were spending their time. This analysis identified that patient care needs were not always being met. We have also reviewed a growing body of evidence showing that a team approach to care improves health outcomes for the frail elderly. Health-care assistants have traditionally worked in people鈥檚 homes and in community care settings. However, in our hospitals, these daily tasks have been done by nursing staff and have created an increased workload for registered nurses.
Health-care assistants on hospital teams can help patients with their basic care needs, allowing RNs to provide the higher level of care they are educated and trained for, including more comprehensive care planning and patient assessments, and providing health information to patients and their families. The new team care model has been created on a unit-by-unit basis, taking into consideration the specific care needs of patients, and creating unit-specific teams. This means there will be an appropriate number of RNs, licensed practical nurses and health-care assistants. With this change, patients will receive more care hours per day. This change has been made with no job losses for nurses or other care providers.
Like most organizations, Island Health has an aging workforce heading into retirement at the same time as our population is aging, putting more demand on the health-care system. This trend will result in a shortage of skilled workers, including a shortage of RNs. This nursing shortage is already placing a demand on our RNs and many have been working double and triple overtime shifts.
This environment is good for neither patients nor our staff. We are planning so we can better support the needs of patients, while improving the work environment for staff.
Island Health is and will continue to monitor health outcomes, the patient experience (through patient surveys) and care planning and assessment to ensure quality. Sixteen key care measurements are posted on our public website and updated on a regular basis. We are also surveying staff to identify ways to further improve patient care and the work environment. So far, no reported patient safety events have been attributed to implementation of the new model.
I would like to acknowledge the hard work and commitment of all care providers at Island Health. We recognize that this change has been a challenge. Throughout the transition, our care teams have remained dedicated to ensuring they provide high quality patient care.
You can be confident that when you need care, we will be here. Our staff, at all levels, are committed to providing you and your loved ones with excellent care, every time, everywhere.
Dr. Brendan Carr is president and CEO of Island Health.
