The Health Quality Council of Alberta has released its report on the quality of continuing care in Alberta and suggests that patients should have some choice in where they end up.
The first bed available policy doesn’t allow for much choice or flexibility.
The report states “families felt rushed to make a decision, with inadequate information made available to support them in doing so.”
The HQCA recommends that Alberta Health Services develops a policy to support “fairness” in a patient’s move to continuing care, and that people should have “some degree of choice in determining a living option.”
The report says “some felt pressured into accepting an offer of placement that they felt did not meet their needs, and felt there was no recourse available.”
The HQCA was also asked to examine the adequacy and monitoring of quality assurance with respect to continuing care.
In a second report the council notes that continuing care contracts are not standardized across the province and all contracts should be standardized to improve quality assurance.
