My wife, Kathleen Norah Hagman, suffered a debilitating right brain stroke April 24, 12, that left her left side paralyzed, unable to speak or swallow, and with complete loss of balance. She spent more than 100 days in hospital and, because she was, in my view, losing her will to live and was failing in the result, I brought her home even though she was palliative. In short, if she was indeed to die, she would do so at home and with family.
As a result, she rallied medically and also began to regain some motor control of her left leg. While in hospital, she had feeding tubes placed in her in order to receive nutrition and medicines.
During the course of this medical journey, it became quite apparent the serious gaps in the provision of health care services in our province. Gaps that, and in effect, are negative in their consequences for the population affected.
Let me first say that while Kate was in hospital, she received not only medical care but also physiotherapy twice a day as a step towards her recovery and rehabilitation.
When at home, she was, as a physician referral, given physio once a week as an outpatient.
When I could no longer care for her at home and had her placed in complex care, she was no longer eligible for physio as an outpatient because, I was told, of government policy.
I’m sure you are aware that complex care facilities do not provide rehab services. They are maintenance facilities only.
In the result, there are undoubtedly, I’m sure, a sizeable population of post-stroke victims who have at least some potential to regain, at least in part, some use of their body affected by the stroke and thus gain some measure of independence and thus improved quality of life.
But, instead, are being denied this potential because of the government’s policies and priorities that do not provide the necessary resources.
The net result is that people like my wife Kate, are in effect being written off and, as a result, they simply vegetate and wait to die.
As a result, they become simply another government stat which will be qualified and explained away as being old; suffered a debilitating stroke; bed-ridden; and eventually and expectantly, died in the result.
No where in that government stat will there be a qualification that both the quality of life and indeed life expectancy could, or would have been, enhanced if rehab services had in fact been available and applied.
One other serious gap and deficiency in government services for people like Kate is in those involving swallow rehab.
In short, and unless the person is in hospital or there is some sort of spontaneous remission, these services are virtually non-existent and thus of no real effect or benefit to those in the community or in complex care and thus no real rehab will occur in the result.
Kate’s swallow is slowly coming back, but only because of her family in being with her and encouraging and allowing her swallow to develop. In short, staff shortages in this critical area mitigates against any real constructive positive outcomes.
Simply stated, doing a swallow assessment every four to six weeks with no contact in between simply doesn’t cut it, Madam Premier. It seems quite apparent to me, through my intimate involvement in the health care system over these past 14 months in Kate stroking, that the government’s policies and priorities have contributed to serious gaps in services outlined above.
And, in the result, people’s quality of life and, indeed, longevity, is being seriously compromised and negatively affected.
I write to inform you of these deficiencies in the hope that those same policies and priorities that have resulted in those deficiencies can in fact be reviewed and changed so those gaps will no longer exist and that sizeable population can in fact enjoy a better quality of life.
They are the seniors of this province who helped build it to what it is today.
We can do better for them, Premier Clark.
Robert (Bob) Hagman
(On behalf of Kathleen Hagman)
Enderby
