<div dir="ltr"><h1>Inuktitut, French-speaking patients receive inferior care at Iqaluit hospital: report</h1>
<h2>Office of the Nunavut Languages Commissioner recommends language policy, training</h2>SARAH ROGERS
<div class="" style="width:568px"><img src="http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/pub/photos/inutiq_ledge_nov2015.jpg" alt="Sandra Inutiq, the Nunavut languages commissioner, during a break in a committee hearing at the legislature this past November. Her offices's final report into the Qikiqtani General Hospital in Iqaluit found numerous breaches of language rights held by Inuktitut and French speakers and makes 14 recommendations to fix the situation. (FILE PHOTO)" height="375" width="568"><br>Sandra
Inutiq, the Nunavut languages commissioner, during a break in a
committee hearing at the legislature this past November. Her offices's
final report into the Qikiqtani General Hospital in Iqaluit found
numerous breaches of language rights held by Inuktitut and French
speakers and makes 14 recommendations to fix the situation. (FILE PHOTO)
</div><p>A new report by the Office of the Languages
Commissioner of Nunavut says Inuktitut and French-speaking patients at
Iqaluit’s Qikiqtani General Hospital face language barriers that could
be putting their health at risk.</p>
<p>Between 2000 and 2011, the languages commissioner’s office received
six language-related complaints regarding access to health care at the
hospital, jobs or a travel escort. Three came from Inuit patients and
another three from francophones.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674complaints_from_public_spark_nunavut_hospital_language_inquiry/" title="That spurred an investigation by the office">That spurred an investigation by the office</a>,
which looked at the availability of French and Inuktitut services at
the Qikiqtani General Hospital between March 2012 and March 2013.</p>
<p>The report, completed last October but only released May 10, found no
known language policy or plan in place at the hospital leaving the vast
majority of services available in English only — to the detriment of
Nunavut’s other official language speakers.</p>
<p>In one of the complaints the language commissioner’s office looked
into, an elderly Inuk man with breathing difficulties sought treatment
at the hospital.</p>
<p>“The patient met with a doctor and, because the conversation was held
in English, he didn’t understand some of the questions,” the report
detailed. </p>
<p>“He asked the doctor to repeat and the doctor subsequently became
irritated and berated the patient. When the patient asked him why he was
upset, the patient said the doctor answered: ‘I can’t understand you, I
will send you someone else,’ and he left, leaving the patient alone
with his breathing problems.”</p>
<p>In another case, the report describes the experience of a
French-speaking couple expecting a baby. The couple did most of their
consultations at the hospital in English, although they had trouble
understanding some medical terms.</p>
<p>“During birth, the mother was told in English that she would have to have a C-section delivery,” the report said. </p>
<p>“She did not understand the English term C-section (short for
Caesarean) and what was going to transpire. Thirty minutes later, she
was in the operating room for the procedure. As her husband was not
allowed to be present, he was unable to help her understand what was
happening. The patient said she was in shock, confused and very
vulnerable.”</p>
<p>Those are just a few examples of problems faced by Inuktitut and
French-speaking patients at the Qikiqtani General Hospital, a regional
hospital that serves a population of more than 18,000 across the Baffin
region.</p>
<p>But Nunavut’s languages commissioner, Sandra Inutiq, said that needs
to change, and Qikiqtani General Hospital must offer a quality of care
equal to what it offers its English-speaking patients.</p>
<p>“Inuit and French language communities must be offered and receive
health care in the official language of their choice, in order to
clearly explain their pain, understand professionals’ questions and the
diagnosis, follow prescribed medications and properly follow recommended
treatment,” Inutiq said in a May 10 release.</p>
<p>Among 14 recommendations issued in the offices report: The Qikiqtani
General Hospital should develop a language plan, with directives, and
make employees aware of patients’ language rights.</p>
<p>Another recommendation suggests that Nunavut’s health department
establish standards for interpretation, to ensure translation is
available to patients at all times.</p>
<p>The report found that the hospital employs six Inuktitut-English
clerk interpreters, and no French-English interpreters — but more often,
members of the public are asked to help interpret.</p>
<p>In one case, a staff members interviewed in the report described
another patient being called on to translate when no interpreters were
available.</p>
<p>“At times, there is nobody in this building that speaks Inuktitut,”
said another staff member. “We don’t function well when we don’t have
someone. This year, it has been very bad, at the point we only had one
interpreter.”</p>
<p>In response to the office’s recommendations, Nunavut’s department of
health committed to develop a language plan, work to increase the number
of bilingual staff at the hospital and to enroll employees in a medical
terminology course through Nunavut Arctic College.</p>
<p>You can read the full report, and the GN’s response below.</p>
<p style="margin:12px auto 6px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-stretch:normal;display:block"> <a title="View Final report on language rights at Qikiqtani Regional Hospital on Scribd" href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/312257461/Final-report-on-language-rights-at-Qikiqtani-Regional-Hospital" style="text-decoration:underline">Final report on language rights at Qikiqtani Regional Hospital</a> by <a title="View NunatsiaqNews's profile on Scribd" href="https://www.scribd.com/user/27774961/NunatsiaqNews" style="text-decoration:underline">NunatsiaqNews</a></p><p style="margin:12px auto 6px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-stretch:normal;display:block"><a title="View NunatsiaqNews's profile on Scribd" href="https://www.scribd.com/user/27774961/NunatsiaqNews" style="text-decoration:underline">http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674inuktitut_french-speaking_patients_receive_inferior_care_at_iqaluit_ho/<br></a></p><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
</div>