OTTAWA, ON — Like in other Ontario communities, Ottawa area long-term care residents receive less care from less staff than just about anywhere elsewhere in Canada, a report being released tomorrow (Wednesday, April 19, 2017 at 11 a.m.) in Ottawa has found.
The new research by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) indicates that not only is long-term care underfunded in Ontario, it is also understaffed compared to the other provinces. Long-Term Care Understaffing Fewer Hands in Ottawa reviews the brewing crisis in care and estimates the level of understaffing at Ottawa long-term care homes.
Two Ottawa long-term care direct care staff, one a nurse, the other a personal support worker will be available at the report launch to talk about their front line experiences providing care to residents in a challenging, under-resourced and increasingly under stress system. They report that care is compromised in a number of areas: resident cleanliness, eating, dressings, conditions that force residents into incontinence, and insufficient infection control. Sadly, they say a lack of time to provide emotional care to residents, who are often at their most vulnerable and in the final stages of life, is now the “accepted norm.”
Ottawa has 17 long-term care facilities with 3,035 beds. Only the sickest are even being allowed to wait for a long-term care bed because there aren’t enough beds in the system.
According to the research an aggressive government strategy to cut costs by removing as many patients as possible from hospitals has compounded the difficulties of rapidly changing demographics.
“The majority of long-term care residents are over 85 years old with complex conditions, including many with dementia. Yet care and staffing levels have not increased proportionately in Ontario,” says Michael Hurley, CUPE Ontario first-vice president.
WHAT: Media conference ‘Long-Term Care Understaffing Fewer Hands in Ottawa’ report
WHERE: CUPE Ottawa Area Office, Room 104, 1378 Triole Street, Ottawa
WHEN: Wednesday, April 19, 2017, 11:00 a.m.
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For more information please contact:
Stella Yeadon CUPE Communications 416-559-9300
