‘Abusive’ client’s appeal denied

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This article was published 24/03/2022 (1435 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba Health Appeal Board recently ruled a regional authority was in the right when it terminated home care services for a client it had deemed disrespectful and “verbally abusive.”

It delivered the decision Feb. 14, after a hearing in January, during which the aggrieved client even insulted the board’s staffers.

At issue was whether the unnamed regional health authority followed procedures when it discontinued services to the client March 16, 2021, after the dismissal of two workers and months of disputes amid the pandemic.

The unnamed former client lives alone in an apartment and suffers from the back injury, which limits a number of household tasks, the appeal board wrote in its decision.

The appellant began receiving light household maintenance and laundry services every two weeks from health authority home support workers in December 2012.

When the pandemic hit Manitoba in the spring of 2020, the health authority reduced services — considered non-essential compared to meal preparation and bathing help — to every four weeks.

In late summer 2020, the client contacted the health authority and asked for a new support worker, as the current one “seemed to feel uncomfortable” in the home, the decision reads.

It notes an example: the client had an item “shaped like a snake” which seemed to trouble the worker, and out of concern for the helper, thought it best to find a new staffer instead.

The health authority said it might take time to find a new worker, due to staffing issues. It took until late August, but the client wasn’t satisfied with the quality of the new person’s work.

The client claims they called to seek clarification on the level of service that should be expected; the health authority told the board it doesn’t have a record of the call.

The worker arrived for the next scheduled visit and subsequently claimed the client was smoking, which they denied but admitted to frequent cannabis use inside the home, as well as a grow operation. The worker left without providing any services; the client claimed they said something to the effect of: “This is how my place smells, if you don’t like it, leave.”

During the next in-home call, the health authority said, the worker found the client smoking pot inside when they returned from the laundry room — which the client again denied — violating the authority’s policy of no smoking during or one hour prior to a visit.

The worker reported the client was “verbally abusive” in early November, alleging the client was angry over the worker’s concerns about the pot smoke, directing them out of the suite.

Again, the health authority said it would take time to find a new worker, considering staffing shortages and the previous two dismissals.

After four months passed, the client contacted the provincial health minister, as well as a health authority team manager, claiming they were being deliberately ignored and penalized for complaining about the level of service.

When the manager called to talk about the allegations, the client became angry, used foul language and hung up, the decision reads. The next day, the manager tried again to speak to the client about the smoking policy, staffing challenges and the appropriate treatment of a worker — the client again got upset and used foul language, the health authority said.

The health authority then terminated its services.

The appeal board, chaired by Joan Holmstrom, said the client displayed similar disrespectful behaviours during the January hearing, including frequent interruptions, insults to board staff and various other parties, and hung up while providing closing comments during the teleconference hearing.

It unanimously decided to dismiss the appeal.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @erik_pindera