Deliver More Care at Home to Help End Hallway Medicine, Deliver Real Results for Patients: Home Care Ontario
TORONTO, Jan. 14, 2019 /CNW/ - Ontario's home care system is a critical part of ending the hallway medicine facing our hospitals but it must be strengthened in order to deliver more care when and where people want it - in their own homes. There are currently far too many patients in hospital beds who could be in their own homes if the right supports were in place.
"Hallway medicine is one of the most pressing challenges facing Ontario's health care system today," said Sue VanderBent, CEO, Home Care Ontario. "We applaud the government for tackling this issue head on and believe that Ontario's home care system has a key role to play in solving it. The home care system should be able to deliver more care at home and by making the right investments, and allowing for more integration, collaboration, and technology-driven care, we can make that a reality."
Building a stronger home care system will support hospitals by reducing admissions that have resulted from people having no where else to turn. An efficient home care system helps acute care to transfer care quickly and safely to the home – where patients want to be. Embracing a new model of working together means breaking down silos and cutting red tape to allow hospitals and home care to work more closely to deliver seamless, integrated care for patients.
Home Care Ontario's pre-budget submission, Delivering More Care at Home, makes a series of immediate and longer-term recommendations to achieve this goal, including:
- 1% increase in home care funding for 2019-20 to deliver more care, including 9 million more PSW visits and 5.1 million more nursing visits;
- Reducing wage disparity between sectors, longer and more frequent visits in the home and better scheduling are also key to ensure we have the professional caregivers to deliver these critical services; and,
- Streamlining patient flow and information exchange at the local level to allow for the rapid adoption of more virtual and remote care delivery in the home.
"We know people want and need more home care and we want to deliver it," concluded VanderBent. "We look forward to working with the government as they transform Ontario's health care system. By making the right investments in home care today, we can build a system that helps end hallway medicine. Patients and families must feel confident in the home to prevent unplanned and unnecessary ER visits. It is critical to invest in home care now to reduce hospital overcrowding and free up resources for new ways of supporting patients at home".
Please see our Pre-Budget Submission here: https://www.homecareontario.ca/docs/default-source/ohca-submissions/homecareontario_prebudgetsubmission_jan2019-final.pdf?sfvrsn=0.
SOURCE Ontario Home Care Association
Susan VanderBent, CEO, Home Care Ontario™, 905-543-9474, [email protected]
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