B.C.’s New Democrats say they will increase the hands-on care time that seniors in residential care receive.
In its speech from the throne on Tuesday, the minority government said it will increase the time caregivers spend with seniors and train more people to meet future demands for care.
What money is behind that pledge won’t be known until the budget is delivered on Feb. 20.
An extra 20 minutes of care for a frail elderly person in residential care could mean a shower rather than a sponging, a bathroom visit rather than diapers, or even just a conversation.
The HEU has been calling on the B.C. government to provide immediate funding for a minimum of 3.36 hours of hands-on care per resident per day, as recommended by the province.
Jennifer Whiteside, secretary-business manager for the 49,000-member Hospital Employees’ Union, said the throne speech acknowledged that 85 per cent of B.C.’s care homes don’t meet minimum staffing guidelines and committed to addressing these and other health-care challenges.
“We look forward to seeing the details in next week’s provincial budget,” she said.
Island Health currently provides 3.32 per patient per day in health-authority owned and run facilities. It’s providing 3.13 hours in publicly funded contracted facilities.
While the publicly run beds are the ones closest to meeting daily standard, only one third of the almost 28,000 publicly funded beds in B.C. are owned and operated by health authorities.
Whiteside argues that the extra time could have a significant impact.
When care aides are rushed off their feet, there’s not enough time to answer call bells, make sure residents are well hydrated, or comfort distressed residents, suffering from dementia, she said.
While Health Minister Adrian Dix says the funding is “starting to flow,” it’s nowhere near the more than $113 million annually that Darryl Plecas, the former parliamentary secretary for seniors, said is needed.
In his Residential Care Staffing Review released in March 2017, Plecas said it would cost more than $113 million a year to increase staffing to meet an average of 3.36 hours per resident per day by health authorities in both publicly run and contracted facilities.
That was the promise made by the former Liberal government: a four-year, $500-million plan announced just before the last election.
“There was only one problem with that $500-million plan — there wasn’t $500 million,” Dix said.
Some of the money was to come from a federal program for long-term care, but that wasn’t applicable, he said, adding funding in the third and fourth years was not budgeted.
It would take 1,500 new jobs — about 900 care aides, 300 licensed practical nurses, 165 registered nurses and other health workers — to meet the daily requirement of 3.36 hours, Dix said.
It’s just not a matter of finding the money, he said — the shift would require spending time and money on recruitment and training.
“It’s a very significant challenge … we’re just starting to get the job done and it’s step by step.”
Plecas conceded in his review that “even if new funding could be made available, the likelihood of increasing to 3.36 hours per resident day within a short time frame is unlikely, given the challenges with the supply of health human resources required.”
Dix said his government is committed to bringing the care hours up to the minimum over the next few years. “[There’s] $20 million starting to flow into [3.36 hours] — this is continuing funding,” Dix said. “My answer is yes, we’re going to do it — that we are starting to do it.”
The pressure for funding comes on the heels of a recent report by B.C.’s seniors advocate, Isobel Mackenzie, showing 85 per cent of residential care homes in 2016-2017 were still failing to provide the minimum amount of care hours. That’s down from the prior year, when it was 91 per cent.
“At this pace, it will take at least another six years before 50 per cent of care homes receive enough funding to meet minimum guidelines,” said Whiteside, adding health authorities should look at all the options to increase part-time care staff to full-time and to increase training of health workers.
Whether there’s a boost in funding to get those health authority averages up to the recommended minimums will only be known after B.C. Finance Minister Carole James makes her budget speech next week.
“We’re going to work week after week, month after month to raise the care standards and meet the test,” Dix said.
Mackenzie said she believes the government is committed, but has yet to see the cash behind that promise, or the timeline.
Island Health is working hard to achieve the provincial guideline of 3.36 hours of direct daily care for people living in residential care, said Tim Orr, director of residential services, in a statement.
“Our first priority is to increase staff funding at affiliated sites,” said Orr. “We expect to see small improvements in the delivery of direct care hours for people in residential facilities before the end of our fiscal year — March 31, 2018.”
