Hôpital Anna-Laberge is under the jurisdiction of Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux (CISSS) de la Montérégie-Ouest. Its Birth Pavilion offers obstetric care and services. Families usually stay there 24 to 72 hours after the birth of a child.
The Québec Ombudsman decided to intervene after receiving worrisome reports. According to the events reported, the lack of training of Birth Pavilion staff allegedly compromised the quality of services.
Findings
The investigation was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the Birth Pavilion was grappling with numerous challenges, notably, a dramatic decrease in available staff. Experienced professionals were increasingly rare. As a result, it had to train many new employees.
Problems with safety and service quality such as the following rose to the surface:
- Preparing the birthing rooms;
- Monitoring of mothers and their babies during and after delivery;
- Monitoring of breast-feeding;
- Monitoring of mothers in the hours following the birth of their child.
The investigation showed that the lack of nursing staff training was to blame.
The Québec Ombudsman wishes to highlight the cooperation it encountered during the investigation and the genuine commitment of the Birth Pavilion staff. Since the situation needed to be rectified, the Ombudsman made 15 recommendations to CISSS de la Montérégie-Ouest. The institution accepted all of them.
The Québec Ombudsman sees to it that the rights of health and social services network users are upheld. Want to report a troubling situation you have witnessed? Do you feel that the rights of a service user or several service users have not been respected? Report it by calling us at 1-800-463-5070 or by using our online complaint form.
