It’s that time of the year again when the BC Care Providers Association puts pen to paper and writes to Santa asking for a special Christmas gift or two.
What follows is a copy of letter delivered to the North Pole earlier today.
Dear Santa:
In the spirit of keeping things simple, we are only asking for one thing under the tree – a bright shiny pair of scissors.
Now before you lean back in your chair and have a jolly old belly laugh wondering why we made such a request, please hear us out.
Every day in BC, thousands of thoughtful care aides, cleaning staff, cooks, grounds keepers, nurses and many more people take care of the frail elderly in care homes.
These dedicated staff try their hardest – yet they increasingly face an uphill battle with unnecessary paperwork and https://bccare.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/medcare-img22.jpgistrative requirements.
That’s where those scissors will come in handy. We want to use them to cut red tape and help get our care staff focused less on paper shuffling – and more on doing what they love most – providing quality care.
Santa, to help make our case even stronger, here are a few extraordinary, but real life examples of where our new scissors could be put to good use!
While it seems hard to believe, one care provider was written up for a Ketchup bottle violation. The care home was cited because regulations clearly say all Ketchup bottles in care home fridges must have easy to read expiry dates.
Now just imagine how Mrs. Claus, an avid cook, would feel if she learned one of our care providers was in contravention of the rules when it was discovered a container of jam in their fridge wasn’t properly labelled as “jam”.
While we know you have a sweet tooth, so too do many of the seniors living in our care homes.
It takes lots of fine ingredients to make those yummy treats.
However, did you know that one of our care homes was cited for making goodies with ground cinnamon containing more than 5% trans fat! Surely a senior would have to consume cinnamon at the rate of a herd of reindeer before they’d feel the ill effects of 6% trans fat – but I digress.
The same care home was written up for another infraction related to their oh so delicious chocolate mousse mix – yes, another trans fat issue.
BTW, this is the same chocolate mousse you found beside the glass of milk and cookies we left next to the fireplace last year.
Since it was all gone Christmas morning – with the notable exception of a few crumbs, we assume at least you thought it was good enough to eat.
Santa…is this all starting to become clearer as to just how important these scissors could become for seniors and the people that care for them?
Did you know that a care home reported to us they were in violation of the rules for not having adequate signage?
That’s right, they regularly get audited to determine if they post a visible, signed and dated schedule in their nursing supply room proving the sprinkler heads were dusted every six months.
Santa…dusting sprinklers is important, but should a care home be in violation for not having a sign saying they’ve simply complied with the rules?
Now imagine our amazement when a care home told us they’d broken the rules by serving seniors two freshly home-baked snacks.
Why were they in violation you ask? Because those items hadn’t been placed on the official care home menu – something required by policy.
Santa…thanks so much for reading our letter and considering our request for a brand new pair of scissors this Christmas. We dearly hope to find it under tree in order that we can begin cutting away at that unnecessary red tape.
While a pair of scissors may seem like an odd request…as you can see, it may be the best gift seniors and their care providers could ask for this year!
Sincerely,
BC Care Providers Association
PS to learn more about our efforts to reduce red tape in the continuing care sector, please read the Seniors Care for a Change report which now includes a one year update!
