| A painful experience for all involved |
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| Local Content - Letters to the Editor |
| Written by publisher |
| Tuesday, 16 February 2010 16:53 |
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Dear Editor, In response to the letter to the editor written by Ms. Marie Deshaies regarding Cypress Lodge, I would like to clarify some points. My comments were specific to the palliative care provided my sister, who passed away from cancer on Jan. 2 at age 66. I have no comments regarding the care of long-term residents. I take exception to Ms. Deshaies’ letter on three major points. Firstly, I cannot agree that as nursing unit co-ordinator, she should be proud of the care provided my sister, when along with the issues stated in my previous letter, my sister was denied pain management medication that had been prescribed. Since Cypress Lodge employs no night staff that is certified to administer medication, she was left in agonizing pain night after night. The Hospice Palliative Care Association will be discussing this issue with the Cypress Health Region. I would strongly urge Ms. Deshaies to review and implement the national principles and norms of practice endorsed by the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association. Secondly, your letter says you welcome and encourage concerns regarding care to be discussed with you. I’m sure you recall that family members and at least two non-family persons who visited my sister, expressed their concerns to staff and directly to you, Ms. Deshaies. This did not improve the situation. Thirdly, I am not alone in thinking that health services in Maple Creek have eroded. In fact, there is even a Facebook group lobbying for improved services. The Maple Creek Hospital used to perform surgery, deliver babies and have a busy pediatric ward – and the hospital remained open every day of the year. The hospital was full. Now the nurses tell me they have four to six patients, and children are sent out to Swift Current. It is not likely that doctors will be attracted by these statistics. The hospital currently serves largely as an outpatient clinic. If the citizens do not become involved, services will not be restored. This year the provincial government committed only five million dollars to the proposed Saskatchewan Children’s Hospital. Based on that decision, I would guess a new hospital at Maple Creek is probably not on the government’s priority list. Your comment saying my letter caused staff to feel “like they had been kicked in the stomach” was bitterly ironic. How does the pain of their hurt feelings compare to the pain of my sister, who endured stomach cancer without pain-control medication? Or, how does their pain compare to the pain of family watching a loved one die in excruciating agony? Who do you think experienced real pain? Rita Smith Borden, Sask. |
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