Home care has essentially stopped for nearly 6,000 vulnerable Ontarians, who have fallen victim to a serious staffing crisis also impacting hospitals, long-term care homes and ambulances.
“We’re being deluged with calls and we do not have the staff to respond,” said Sue VanderBent, Chief Executive Officer of Home Care Ontario, whose members employ approximately 28,000 health care staff province-wide. “There are no longer enough nurses and personal support workers in the system to provide people with the help they need at home.”
Home care services have been under pressure for some time in the province. However, an exodus of staff during the pandemic exacerbated pre-existing problems. Those issues have become a full-fledged crisis during the current Omicron wave. In total, home care has lost an estimated 4,000 nurses since the beginning of the pandemic.
The result of those staff losses means less home care for Ontarians. Before the pandemic, home care providers fulfilled requests for nursing care 95 per cent of the time. As of December 31, 2021 that number has dropped to 56 per cent. This means home care providers are unable to effectively serve five out of every 10 people who require nursing care.
Over the first three weeks of January, capacity challenges limited a range of care, including for post-surgical wounds, chemotherapy, I.V. antibiotics, diabetes, dementia and more.
Home care plays a key role in Ontario’s health care system, relieving pressure on hospitals and long-term care homes.
According to the latest hospital statistics, 582 people in hospitals province-wide are eligible to go home with publicly-funded home care. This is a significant number considering the stress being placed on the hospital system by approximately 4,000 COVID-19 positive patients.
“The results of our current crisis are clear: more people are being forced to go to hospitals for services they should be able to receive at home.” said VanderBent. “And more people who go to acute care will remain stuck in hospitals.”
Home care staff are paid less than their equivalents in other parts of the system to perform similar work. Personal support workers, for example, are paid at least $5 per hour more to work in long-term care homes and hospitals.
“The shortages we’re talking about can have life-altering consequences for families,” said VanderBent. “These patients are more than just a number. They are brothers, sisters, parents. We simply must do more to help them.”
Home Care Ontario is requesting $460M from government to fix wage inequalities that have worsened a pre-existing staffing crisis in the sector during the pandemic.
“Government needs to do everything in its power now to ensure the province is not in a similar situation during future waves of the pandemic. That begins with prioritizing home care funding to help stabilize this essential pillar of our health care system.”
SOURCE Home Care Ontario
