Nurses' president asks VIHA president to hit pause on patient care delivery changes and agree to independent expert review

Vancouver Island Health Authority's (VIHA) failure to present credible evidence or address nurses' concerns regarding its controversial Care Delivery Model Redesign (CDMR) have prompted BCNU President Debra McPherson to formally request VIHA halt the scheme and agree to an independent expert review.

"We're requesting that VIHA halt implementation of a scheme that cuts costs by replacing licensed nurses with care aides, so that experts can review the model for its potential impacts on patient safety," says McPherson in a July 26th letter to VIHA President Dr. Brendan Carr.

"I'm not aware of any peer-reviewed research that fully evaluates CDMR," says McPherson. "That's why I'm calling on you [Dr. Carr] to release the time-and-motion studies, and any other evaluations you may have, of this controversial patient care model."

Despite widespread concern voiced by nurses about the implications of CDMR, VIHA is charging ahead without presenting evaluations or addressing the patient safety issues to which nurses are pointing.

Already in Nanaimo 26 RNs and LPNs are being replaced by care aides in medical, surgical, transition and rehab units. Plans to spread CDMR to the south island area are underway as VIHA has now notified BCNU that 12 sites at RJH (Royal Jubilee Hospital) and 11 sites at VGH (Victoria General Hospital) will also be targeted for the cost-cutting scheme.

"If you want nurses and the general public to accept that patient safety isn't being placed at risk, then why not make your evidence available?" asks McPherson. "The real question is quickly becoming, what is VIHA hiding?"

As of last week, nurses have gone public with a petition calling on VIHA to put implementation on hold, agree to an independent expert review, and make all studies and data public. To date well over two thousand Vancouver Island citizens have signed up in support of nurses' concerns for safe care.