Ontario’s 626 long-term care homes are not meeting the needs of their 79,000 residents. For decades, successive governments ignored dozens of reports and recommendations to improve care in nursing homes. Today, Ontario continues to underfund and understaff homes. An aging resident population with increasing complexity calls for increased care from staff with the right skill mix. COVID-19 has exposed chronic underfunding and under-staffing with devastating and tragic consequences.
Submission to the Government of Canada re proposed Safe Long-Term Care Act
RNAO welcomes the development of federal legislation focused on improved care for nursing home residents. Federal leadership is required to improve the quality and availability of LTC across the country.
The proposed regulatory amendments to Ontario Regulation 246/22 under the Fixing Long-Term Care Act include provisions that would allow PSWs to administer drugs in long-term care settings, where it is not a controlled act. In this submission, RNAO highlights the following concerns about the proposed regulatory amendments:
1. resident safety
2. staffing issues
3. the “summary” format of the posting. We urge the government to include our five key recommendations in the regulations to improve care for LTC residents in Ontario.
Submission to the Minister of Long-Term Care on proposed phase one regulations to the Fixing Long-Term Care Act
RNAO believes that the current changes to LTC legislation and regulations are necessary, but not sufficient, to ensure safe and quality care in long-term care. We now urge the government to implement significant regulatory amendments beyond what has been proposed. This is needed to address the same critical deficiencies that we identified in the legislation – deficiencies which hinder the FLTCA from making a real and positive impact on LTC residents, their loved ones, and staff.
Other documents related to long-term care:
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