Rose Botting knows first-hand the damage that underfunded and short-staffed long-term care can cause to a family. Her mother Frances Sander died just days after moving into the Rose Villa long-term care home in Rosetown. Today at the Legislature, Botting joined NDP Seniors Critic Danielle Chartier to share her experience and her concerns.
“The Sask. Party committed in 2016 to using $7.5 million in savings from reduced administrative positions and costs in Regional Health Authorities to fund long-term care, but they have so far failed to do so,” Chartier said. “That’s not fair to families throughout the province whose loved ones aren’t getting the care they need.”
Sander suffered from dementia and was at risk of falling when she was moved into the care home and had a required specialized care plan because of it. It appears that the care plan was not followed; on the morning of April 10, 2018, she was found in her bathroom unconscious in a pool of blood. She had to wait hours before being transferred to Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon, where she eventually passed away.
“My family and I have so many unanswered questions. Why weren’t my mother’s care guidelines followed, why did it take so long to find her after her fall and why did it take an hour to call an ambulance?” Botting said. “Other families should not have to go through what we have.”
“This government has pushed the issue of short staffing in long-term care down the road for far too long,” Chartier said. “I don’t see how they can celebrate a balanced budget when they’ve failed to deliver on a years-old funding promise and when frontline care is so underfunded.”
Poor working conditions, favouritism, $300K travel nurse pay at issue
REGINA - Today, the Official Opposition released a letter signed by 49 emergency room nurses in Saskatoon. The letter slams the Sask. Party government for failing to support Saskatchewan nurses and curb the province’s reliance on expensive out-of-province travel nurses.
REGINA - Today, Official Opposition Critic for First Nations and Métis Relations Betty Nippi-Albright hosted a Day of Action with Indigenous leaders from Nekaneet First Nation, Yellow Quill First Nation, Waterhen Lake First Nation, Onion Lake Cree Nation, Carry The Kettle First Nation, Key First Nation and the residential school support team from Yorkton Tribal Council. Together, they continue to draw attention to the Sask. Party government’s disregard for the Duty to Consult process.
MOOSE JAW - Today, the Official Opposition stood with Taylor Enns, president of the Moose Jaw Firefighters Association, and Brayden Dutchak, the son of a cancer survivor. Together, they called on the Sask. Party government to reopen Saskatchewan’s only hyperbaric chamber.
Records show former Sask. Party Finance Minister lobbied for Calgary surgery scheme on behalf of a major Sask. Party donor
REGINA - Today, the Official Opposition grilled the Premier and his Minister of Health after the Minister misled the public, claiming that he had not been lobbied by a former Sask. Party MLA when Saskatchewan's official lobbyist logs show the exact opposite.