Calgary mother calls for compassion as hospital budgets are tightened

Gemma Fox wants Alberta politicians to know that sometimes apple juice and cookies are more than just a snack.  

In the chaos of an emergency department, that simple offering can bring comfort and calm, according to the Calgary mother.

Fox's seven-year-old son, Lochlan, has severe epilepsy and has been in and out of hospital all of his life.

Three years ago he was rushed to the Alberta Children's Hospital because he stopped breathing after a major seizure.

As health care staff worked to stabilize him, a nurse took Fox aside — offering her fresh scrubs, an apple juice and cookies.

"It was a nurse just taking a minute to care for me when everybody else was caring for my son," she said.

"I know it's just apple juice and a cookie but it meant so much to me."

It was a moment that grounded her.

"It's that connection…When you're going through traumatic and heavy things, those connections mean so much to you."

Those simple hospital snacks have become a flashpoint in Alberta.

Alberta Health Services [AHS] announced on Tuesday it was backtracking on a plan that doctors worried would result in cuts to food supplies in ERs and some outpatient hospital clinics.

In a news release, Tuesday, interim president and CEO, Andre Tremblay, said AHS approved changes in September. 

And while the new policy was supposed to take effect on Tuesday, it has now been paused.

"The proposed policy was not meant to deprive patients of food. What was meant to change is how food is stored and delivered to patients in an effort to reduce waste that is occurring in our hospitals," Trembay's statement said.

"I have reviewed this policy which was brought forward prior to my arrival at AHS and, after feedback from clinicians, have decided that AHS will not move forward with these changes."

Food supplies already limited, doctors say

Dr. Paul Parks, past president of the Alberta Medical Association, called the decision "positive news."

But he said the situation shines a light on a bigger problem in Alberta emergency rooms. 

"For the last year or two the restrictions on nutrition have been draconian," said Parks who originally posted his concerns about the plan on social media.

He said staff at the Medicine Hat ER where he works are already limited, in many cases, to offering non-admitted patients toast, cookies and juice. Some other ERs have sandwiches on hand.

The problem is becoming more pronounced, according to Parks, as patients remain longer in overcrowded emergency rooms. Some can wait for days before being admitted.

"We are identifying regularly people in our emergency departments — patients that are frail or don't have advocates or people who can go get them food — who are going long periods of time without food. And all we can offer them now in our [emergency] department is some juice and some toast if our busy staff can identify that and help them."

Parks said he's been calling for improved food supplies in ERs, but those calls have gone unheeded.

"We've been trying to talk about this for a long, long time…We desperately need help. This needs to be fixed."

According to Parks, there is no evidence that digestive biscuits in his ER are being wasted.

He said staff were so concerned about the impending policy change that they used money from another budget to purchase cookies prior to the now cancelled implementation date.

AHS told CBC News that emergency room patients will continue to have food options available.

Outpatient clinics

The policy was also expected to impact some outpatient clinics.

It was worrying for Fox, whose son goes to Alberta Children's Hospital every three weeks for infusions to treat his drug-resistant epilepsy and other symptoms related to his nervous system.

"It's been trauma for both of us every three weeks," she said.

According to Fox, there is a "magic" freezer filled with popsicles and ice cream on the unit where Lochlan gets his four to five hour infusions. Other food is available as well.

"It's a way to lower the blow of having to go through these yucky procedures for these kids," she said.

She was devastated when she heard, through other parents in a Facebook support group, that popsicles and other snacks could be pulled from pediatric outpatient clinics.

"It just brings them a little bit of joy…This one felt like [it was] personally attacking the kids."

On Tuesday, Premier Danielle Smith was asked about concerns children undergoing outpatient cancer treatments might lose access to snacks and drinks.

"All I can tell is that there was something that was lost in translation."

Smith said the policy was intended to avoid food spoilage and waste.

"But somehow that got implemented in a way that was not consistent with what the policy was," she said.

"If we can still find some ways to save, we want to make sure that we can save on food wastage. But the intention was never to deny patients sustenance while they're waiting for treatment or after treatment. So it was a misapplication and a misinterpretation of a policy direction that's since been paused."

For her part, Fox worries about Smith's use of the word "pause" and she hopes future decisions will be handled with compassion.

"Once again it's just left as parents not being able to fully trust. What shoe is going to drop next?" said Fox.

"We're trying to keep our kid alive as well as give him the best quality of life over here … and I don't want to be having to fight for a popsicle."

Edmonton ER physician Dr. Shazma Mithani is calling on government to consult staff in the future.  

"Talk to the people who are on the frontlines," she said in an interview before AHS announced it was halting the policy change.

"We have the ability to be able to inform these decisions in a very practical way because we are the ones that are seeing the patients everyday."

Mithani said her hospital, the Royal Alexandra, sees a lot of unhoused patients. And often the best she can do is offer a sandwich before they are discharged.

Meanwhile Parks said the food policy controversy illustrates a disconnect between the frontlines and government decision makers.

"The pressures to try to save hundreds of millions of dollars from frontline clinical savings is having real impacts on humans and making our job really hard on the frontlines."