Québec City, November 18, 2016 – At the end of the first public forum on best practices for residential and long-term care centres (CHSLD), Gaétan Barrette, Minister of Health and Social Services, has made commitments to rapidly improve practices in CHSLDs to benefit the roughly 37,000 people who live in them. During this forum, Minister Barrette was accompanied by Francine Charbonneau, Minister responsible for Seniors and Anti-Bullying, and Marie Montpetit, his Parliamentary Assistant and Member for Crémazie.
Formal commitments of establishment CEOs
At the forum’s closure, the CEOs of CHSLD establishments made formal commitments to implement best practices in their facilities, by providing personalized and specific care and services to residents to respond to their needs and preferences. They also committed to adopting a mobilizing outreach and leadership approach with staff, residents and their relatives.
The Health Minister’s commitments
The Health Minister announced an additional investment of $65 million to hire 1,150 orderlies, nursing assistants and nurses. The establishments will determine, based on local needs, the number of resources to hire in each of these categories.
Among the other commitments made by the Minister, note the development of a provincial strategy aimed at improving the attraction and retention of CHSLD orderlies, increasing the number of specialized nurse practitioners in CHSLDs, strengthening collaboration with physicians and healthcare teams, and establishing a recurring annual forum for CEOs on improving care and services for seniors.
Annual accountability: a permanent forum
The forum held during the past two days is a turning point for CHSLDs. The different speakers demonstrated that it is quite possible to implement best practices everywhere in Quebec. All CHSLDs will therefore have to apply them as of now. The establishment CEOs have formally committed to exercising the necessary leadership in this regard. Together, we are going to implement monitoring and accountability processes to maintain a proper watch. To this end, the forum on best practices will become an annual event.
–Gaétan Barrette
What we most want for our seniors is to have staff who respect residents, and who are focused on their personal needs. We also want them to be available, accessible and in contact with relatives and families. With the commitments that we have collectively made today, I believe that all our seniors living in CHSLDs will benefit from improved services in the short term. We look forward to reviewing these results next year.
–Francine Charbonneau
In my visits, I met with residents, relatives, staff members and managers who were able to work together to create harmonious and dynamic living environments. The forum and the associated procedure has brought to light that many innovative practices exist within our network, and, more importantly, that dedicated individuals do also. I believe that the forum, by relying on best practices and our deeply committed stakeholders, will greatly improve the quality of life of persons in CHSLDs.
–Marie Montpetit
Note that among the presentations made during the forum, it was demonstrated that quality care and services depend in large part on strategic organization. This is the foundation from which the Government of Quebec intends to deploy resources and best practices.
The examples presented to us during the forum were developed with resources that are currently available. It is therefore important to emphasize that beyond the resources that will be added, it is partnership, collaboration and everyone’s implication, including residents and their families, that are the key to successfully implementing best practices. Everyone within CHSLD teams, orderlies, nursing attendants, nurses and other professionals have a crucial role to play with the users.
–Gaétan Barrette
The forum brought together 350 participants, speakers, experts and representatives from the health and social services network, unions, professional orders and associations and groups concerned with care and services to residents in CHSLDs. The forum is part of a comprehensive approach that began with consultations with various partners, as well as a tour of some CHSLDs in the networks that apply best practices. The effort will continue with another forum to be held in the winter of 2017 on home support services.
