Staff at The Pines nursing home in Burns Lake allegedly failed to give a senior patient a bath for eight days.
“I asked them to make sure that she had a bath because she’s incontinent. But when I came back her hair was greasy. Almost 2 weeks without a bath,” as Patricia Pedersen told Lakes District News.
“The nurses said they didn’t have time to help her with a bath or shower. I thought, ‘you’ve got to be kidding me.’”
The staff also didn’t apply menopausal creams to the woman, as she told Pedersen on Nov. 8 when she picked her up at The Pines.
She also told Pedersen that she didn’t feel comfortable asking the staff for help “because they were just sitting there in their rooms and they didn’t come to check on her.”
Pedersen isn’t related to the woman - who will turn 96 in December - but is her neighbour and sometimes takes care of her.
She left the woman at The Pines as respite while she went to Alberta to visit her 80-year-old father. Pedersen has been periodically taking care of the woman since her husband passed away and during the winter she can’t be at home alone because she isn’t able to put wood into the stove by herself.
“She’s probably going to end up in The Pines. She’s deteriorating at a fairly quick rate. My concern is that I’ll have to put her there at the end of November. She’s worried that if I say something they won’t treat her well. They already weren’t treating her well. That’s not appropriate,” Pedersen said.
In response to an email inquiry by Lakes District News, Northern Health said it couldn’t comment on individual patient experiences due to confidentiality rules.
“Long-term care staff take direction from physicians when it comes to medications and other care plans,” said spokesperson Jessica Quinn. “Long term care and home support staff work with clients, who have a role in the decisions around their care, including bathing.”
READ MORE: Northern Health leads B.C. in licencing infractions for long-term care facilities
Quinn added that individuals or caregivers can take concerns to local administration or contact the Patient Care Quality Office by emailing patientcarequalityoffice@northernhealth.ca or calling toll free at 1-877-677-7715.
Blair McBride
Multimedia reporter
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