Community Care Access Centres support the Auditor General of Ontario's recommendations to improve the long-term care home placement process

TORONTO, Dec. 12, 2012 /CNW/ - Working with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, Ontario's 14 Community Care Access Centres (CCACs) are committed to implementing the recommendations resulting from the Auditor General of Ontario's audit of the long-term care home placement process released today.  With a focus on continuous quality improvement, CCACs recognize there are opportunities to enhance the patient experience through the placement process. These opportunities include increased transparency of wait times and a provincial commitment to improved access to information about long-term care homes to help better inform people's choices.

The auditor's overall findings indicate that CCACs are managing the placement process well.  For example, the auditor acknowledged all CCACs are using a provincially consistent approach to determing an individual's need for long-term care, including considering alternatives and supporting people to wait safely at home.

"Moving into a long-term care home is one of the most difficult decisions and transitions that people make in their lives. To feel supported in this challenging time, people need to know their options, their rights and where to go to get the information they need," says Dan Burns, CEO, Ontario Association of Community Care Access Centres (OACCAC).  "CCACs will continue working with their partners to ensure the most vulnerable people at the highest risk receive care in the right place, as quickly as possible, and to enable more people to wait at home for long-term care rather than in the hospital."

As part of the audit, detailed reviews of three CCACs (Central East, North East and Waterloo Wellington CCACs) were completed to determine the efficiency and effectiveness of the processes CCACs apply to place people in long-term care homes, in compliance with the Long-Term Care Homes Act, 2007 and regulations.

"CCACs appreciated the time spent with the auditors, their efforts to fully understand the complex long-term care placement process and their insights for continuous quality improvement.  Provincially, we will begin addressing each recommendation that falls within our mandate without legislative, regulatory or policy changes, while recognizing some CCACs have already made progress in these areas," affirms Burns. "We look forward to working with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and Ontario's Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs) to improve the placement process for the people of Ontario."

About Ontario's CCACs:
Community Care Access Centres (CCACs) connect people across Ontario with quality in-home and community-based health care. Caring for more than 600,000 Ontarians annually, we provide information, direct access to qualified care providers and community-based services to help people come home from hospital or live independently at home.

SOURCE: Ontario Association of Community Care Access Centres

Gabriella Skubincan, Director, Communications, OACCAC
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