New legislation will require more PSWs: Home Care Ontario CEO
Ontario will need more personal support workers than it has now if plans to revamp home care medical services are to succeed, says Home Care Ontario chief executive officer Sue VanderBent.
VanderBent said the proposed Connecting People to Home and Community Care Act — announced by Health Minister Christine Elliott Tuesday — is “designed to modernize an old system that has been in place since the early 1990s and has become, over time, excessively bureaucratic.”
The legislation will eliminate caps on the amount of in-home supports patients can receive, and give patients access to their own care plans, be able to self-refer and have more access to transitional beds — among changes that are part of the provincial government’s broader effort to end hallway health care.
“All these things are great,” VanderBent said.
But Ontario is already dealing with a serious shortage of personal support workers (PSWs), particularly in rural areas such as northern Ontario, she added.
If the shortage isn’t addressed the increased focus on home care services will only exacerbate problems.
She said Niagara has been hard hit by the shortage, too, because of the region’s higher than average senior population.
“I think because of the beauty of the area, everybody is attracted to it to retire. People want to live there because it’s so lovely, but services are hard to get,” said VanderBent, who lives in Hamilton.
She blamed the shortage on wages lagging behind pay offered to PSWs working in hospitals and long-term care homes, as well as split shifts home care workers often face in the early morning and evenings.
“Naturally they’re attracted to other jobs in the larger economy,” VanderBent said.
Home Care Ontario is urging the province to increase funding for PSWs working in the home care sector by five per cent in each of the next three years, to bring their salaries in line with PSWs working in other health-care settings.
“Five per cent a year will help us catch up and attract our staff back,” VanderBent said.
During Tuesday’s announcement, Elliott said the changes will mean patients will receive “the home care they need as quickly and conveniently as possible, without having to tell their story over and over.”
The health teams will work together to understand a patient’s full medical history and “directly connect” him or her to the type of care needed, said Elliott — who hinted at such measures a year ago in announcing a major reform of the entire health-care system.
Under the existing system, all care is co-ordinated by approved agencies, which have been criticized as an extra layer of bureaucracy.
VanderBent said home care service providers hope the new legislation will be a catalyst to address PSW shortages, as well.
“I think government understands the critical role that home care plays and we’re very hopeful in this pre-budget time that they’re thinking carefully about what each region needs to really support people to stay at home,” she said.
“I think it makes it very clear that without the people we can’t possibly fulfil our mission here.”