Hospital language services lacking for patients: report
Commissioner gives 14 recommendations to improve environment at hospital
Stewart Burnett
Northern News Services
Monday, May 16, 2016
IQALUIT
A new report from the Office of the Languages Commissioner of Nunavut lays out several recommendations to improve the communication situation at Qikiqtani General Hospital.
Nunavut Languages Commissioner Sandra Inutiq said Inuit and French communities must be offered and receive health care in the official language of their choice at Qikiqtani General Hospital. - NNSL file photo
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The systemic investigation assessed the availability of services and communications in Inuktitut and French between March 1, 2012 and March 31, 2013.
For many years, the report states, the commissioner's office has received concerns from citizens about their ability to communicate and receive services in the official language of their choice from the Department of Health.
"As the non-compliance of language rights is recurrent and seems to be an endemic issue, we decided to conduct a systemic investigation," stated languages commissioner Sandra Inutiq in a news release accompanying the report.
The report made 14 recommendations pertaining to policies, procedures and practices, including that both the Department of Health and Department of Finance review hiring policies to comply with language legislation and to emphasize recruitment of skilled bilingual health professionals; that the Department of Health should ensure that once a patient has chosen to communicate in an official language, it is followed through the whole chain of services, from escorts to medevacs; that the Department of Health should establish standards of services regarding interpretation at Qikiqtani General Hospital for all hours; and more.
Providing communications and services in Inuktitut and French is a matter of justice, Inutiq stated.
"A patient must not be subjected to an unwelcoming response or gesture, longer wait time, inferior quality service or longer suffering period just because he or she requires service in Inuktitut or French rather than in English," she stated.
"Inuit and French language communities must be offered and receive health care in the official language of their choice, in order to clearly explain their pain, understand professionals' questions and the diagnosis, follow prescribed medications and properly follow recommended treatment. The quality of care has to be equal to that offered to people from the anglophone community who are proficient in English.?
During the investigation, the report noted three factors influencing the quality of health care: language barriers, refusal to see that patient safety is ensured and lack of willingness to find solutions.
The report argued that in order to improve the health care services in official languages, "a cultural change must be implemented within the department and the hospital."
It went on to say health care professionals cannot be solely responsible for this transformation.
