Elder citizens in the Northern Health region have to wait massively longer times than anywhere else in B.C. to get a full assessment of their needs.
These assessments are done to determine what subsidized resources they are eligible for.
According to a report released this week entitled The Best of Care: Getting it Right For Seniors by B.C.'s ombudsperson Kim Carter, it takes on average more than 200 days for the full assessment to be done in Northern Health. This compares to 21 days in the Fraser Health Authority and 68 days on Vancouver Island, while there was no complete data from the other health authorities in the province. Carter specifically criticized the data gathering and reporting process across the province.
Tim Rowe, the Northern Health Authority's executive lead for the elderly population, said the data for this region was probably correct in a raw way, but did not tell the full story. He agreed that on average it does take 205 days for a full needs assessment to be done for some elders, but he pointed out that this figure did not measure the initial needs assessments.
"They would not be falling through any sort of gaps," he said. "Each of them has an initial assessment and based on that first stage, most if not all, of their needs are addressed right away. It only takes a longer amount of time to get through the most detailed parts of the assessment. If they need home support, or meals on wheels, or respite care, or whatever services they can best use in their community, that is started up for them without the final assessment being completed."
He said the initial assessments were bolstered by the patient relationship with front-line medical staff (family physicians, nurses, etc.) who can implement or consult on the senior's needs throughout the process. Because of the long distances and remote communities served by Northern Health, that full and final assessment may take more time to finish than a more urban heath authority where there are more assessment staff who are easier to access.
Hence, northern seniors have staged assessments done.
Rowe also said the figures for northern B.C. may be affected by the small pool of patients who take part in the assessment process.
"All across the North, we are talking about 19 clients who had to wait for that 205 days as an average, but all of them were already accessing the services they needed," he said. "Also, they would tend to be those with lower priority needs; the higher priority people would have their needs assessed more immediately."
As the population of elders grows rapidly larger, with the baby boomer demographic bubble rising into senior citizen status, there are initiatives afoot in Northern Health to meet that challenge.
Rowe said a big part of that was simply ensuring front-line positions were generally staffed up and those doctors and nurses retained in northern communities - something Northern Health has been focused on for quite some time already.
The advent of tele-health technology getting into place across the North was another advantage. Assessments could be done quicker and more effectively by video link than over the phone or by e-mail exchanges.
Website information to educate and guide patients through the process was also being revamped to make the information easier to access and understand for those in the assessment process.
Rowe also praised Carter's report - available on the BC Ombudsperson's website under the Public Reports heading - for drawing attention to seniors' issues.
"It is an excellent report," he said. "I think it provides a lot of material that should be shown and will be useful long into the future."
