The Hospital Employees’ Union is guardedly optimistic about a promise by MLA Gordon Hogg that his government will take action to fix food quality at Peace Arch Hospital, its extended-care facility and at other area hospitals.
The Surrey-White Rock MLA laid out a five-step program to rehabilitate food quality today in response to widespread complaints that boiled over on a radio open-line show earlier this week.
While welcoming parts of the plan — such as increased staffing and a committee to solicit input from patients and residents and their families — the union is skeptical about the Fraser Health Authority’s proposal to yet again hire more consultants to study the problem.
“Government’s overdependence on consultants created this mess in the first place,” says HEU spokesperson Zorica Bosancic, noting that the FHA’s food rethermalization technology was introduced on the recommendation of consultants despite warnings from food service workers.
“Instead of wasting more money, let’s fix the problem through genuine consultation with those who know first hand what will improve the nutritional quality and appeal of the meals — that’s patients and residents, their families and the staff.
“The solutions are common-sense. This government must stop treating food and other support services as if they were irrelevant to patient care,” adds Bosancic. “What we really need is a change of attitude, not another costly bureaucratic exercise.”