‘Scrambling’: Family told by Victoria Hospital not enough staff to feed 87-year-old mother – BC | The Canadian News

A shortage of staff at Victoria’s Royal Jubilee Hospital due to COVID-19 has meant that at least one patient has to rely on family to come in and feed her.

Margaret Mears is currently in hospital due to a reaction to her antibiotics. Her hands are virtually lame.

Mears’ daughter, Helen Bell, was contacted by the hospital Monday morning and said there were not enough staff to feed her 87-year-old mother.

“They said they did not have enough staff today to feed her her meals, and (the family) had to come down and give her food. “So we can please find a way to get someone there for breakfast, lunch and dinner, because there were not enough staff,” Bell told Global News. “We scurried a bit, but we covered it.”

In an email, the BC Ministry of Health said it could not comment on individual patient issues for privacy reasons, but assured that there was no instruction at any level for families to help with patient nutrition due to staff shortages.

“Capacity issues do not affect the nutrition of patients. Ensuring that patients are fed will always be a priority, regardless of capacity issues, ”it reads. “Our healthcare professionals are grateful for the involvement and help of patients’ families.”

1:32Take a closer look at the rise in COVID-19 hospital numbers this week

From 24 to 26 January 2022, 1,881 healthcare workers in Island Health were ill due to COVID-19 or other diseases.

Staff levels are adjusted on a day-to-day and shift-by-shift basis – in advance where possible – to balance risk and help utilize human resources most efficiently across the system.

Bell said she had helped feed her mother before, but had never been asked by a hospital to do so.

Her mother was also unable to shower for three weeks due to a lack of staff, she added. During that time, Mears received sponge baths.

The family was not given a timeline for how long the shortages would adversely affect Mears’ care, and Bell did not know how many other families were also asked to help with nutrition.

“It was quite worrying to think our modern healthcare system in Canada has come to the point that it requires our family to come in and feed patients,” Bell said.

“It was definitely a push. The staff worked very hard, but I think there are only so many people out. ”