Long-term care can no longer be an afterthought

Much has been said and much has been written about how the COVID-19 pandemic has brought very public attention to the state of long-term care homes across the country. The 2020 Canadian Armed Forces report, which followed their deployment to some of the hardest hit care facilities in Ontario, painted a very grim and disturbing picture of the conditions within these long-term care homes. As shocking as this report was, these conditions have been known to advocacy groups and families of residents, who have been pushing governments to make changes for years. Health care has always been a top priority for Canadians, yet until recently, long-term care seems to have been an afterthought far too often. Inadequate funding has led to under staffing, lack of services—both for residents and staff—and critical shortage of available spaces for those waiting to get into a long-term care home. Overworked staff feel unsupported, leading them to leave, and resulting in deteriorating quality of care. It is unacceptable that it took the death of nearly 16,000 LTC residents to make long-term care a priority. At the time of the CAF report, there were calls for the federal government to establish a national inquiry into conditions in Canada’s long-term care homes. We need more than that. We need clear, strong leadership to make meaningful and substantial change to improve the lives of long-term care residents across the country. My province of Nova Scotia recently committed resources to renovate and build 2,500 new single-bed rooms over the next three years, as well as funding recruitment initiatives with a goal of hiring 600 nurses and 1,400 Continuing Care Assistants. Provinces and territories can’t do it alone because the gap is far too large to bring our LTC systems up to the standards of care we need. The federal government must make a substantial investment and provide the necessary leadership to make the required changes happen. The administration and delivery of healthcare is under the jurisdiction of the provinces and territories. Historically, those governments bristle when the federal government is seen as interfering, especially when it comes to how money is spent. But we need national standards, and we need a transparent mechanism to hold everyone accountable. The 2004 Health Accord saw the federal government play a leadership role and successfully bring together First Ministers to a consensus on a path forward for renewal of health care in Canada. The same can be done now for LTC. The Standards Council of Canada, Health Standards Organization, and Canadian Standards Association have been working together to develop new national standards for LTC. The plan is to use these new national standards as the foundation for a new Safe Long-Term Care Act. The federal government clearly has a role to play in long-term care, and it does seem to be taking that responsibility seriously. In the health minister’s mandate letter, wage increases and 50,000 new personal support workers, are specific targets. In the mandate letter to both the minister of health and the minister of seniors, the prime minster instructed them to negotiate agreements with provinces and territories to support efforts to improve the quality and availability of long-term care homes and beds and the implementation of the Safe Long-Term Care Act. These goals cannot be downloaded onto the provinces to fund alone. The federal government will have to commit funding to these initiatives. As we are hopefully seeing an end to the pandemic and a shift in focus by our governments to economic recovery, there is a real concern that the state of our long-term health care systems will fade from the public’s attention. The pandemic has been a reality check for many Canadians, and particularly for us Parliamentarians. We must find solutions to ensure quality care for some of Canada’s most vulnerable, and to ensure they are treated with dignity and respect. We need federal leadership here, in this moment, to ensure lasting and systemic change. Jane Cordy is a Senator for Nova Scotia and Leader of the Progressive Senate Group.

Long-term care can no longer be an afterthought

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Long-term care can no longer be an afterthought

It is unacceptable that it took the death of nearly 16,000 LTC residents to make long term care a priority.

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