Health News For South West
Thursday, May 14, 2015
Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care
Ontario Launches Home Care Plan to Improve Access and Expand Service
Ontario's new plan for home and community care includes an increase to home care nursing service hours to meet the needs of patients with complex care needs.
Funding for an additional 80,000 hours of nursing care is part of the 2015 Budget commitment to increase investment in home and community care by more than $750 million over the next three years. These extra hours of care will make it possible for individuals with complex conditions to receive care where they want to be - in their home and community, instead of in a hospital or in long-term care.
The proposal to provide more nursing hours is part of Patients First: A Roadmap to Strengthen Home and Community Care - a new plan to improve and expand home and community care over the next three years.
This new plan outlines how the government will transform how care is delivered at home and in the community. In addition to increasing nursing hours, key initiatives will include:
- Expanding supports for family caregivers
- Giving clients and caregivers greater say in choosing a provider, and how and when that provider delivers services
- Clear and consistent levels of home and community care services no matter where in the province a patient lives
- Enhancing support for personal support workers
- Providing greater choice for palliative and end-of-life care.
This new roadmap responds to recommendations in Bringing Care Home, a report from the expert group on home and community care. At each step, the government will consult with clients, their advocates and caregivers, as well as with providers and leaders in the home and community care sector to ensure that all voices are heard.
Helping more people access better health care faster and closer to home is part of the government's plan to build a better Ontario through its Patients First: Action Plan for Health Care, which is providing patients with faster access to the right care, better home and community care, the information they need to stay healthy and a health care system that's sustainable for generations to come.
Quick Facts:
- Home and community services support people of all ages who require care in their home, at school or in the community.
- In the 2015 Budget, the government proposed to increase investment in home and community care by $750 million over the next three years.
- In 2014-15, Ontario invested an additional $270 million in new funding for the home and community care sector.
- Home care is provided to more than 600,000 people per year – 60 per cent of whom are seniors – including 27 million hours of personal support and homemaking, 6.5 million nursing visits and 1.9 million hours of nursing shifts.
- Community support services assist about 1.46 million people per year who are mostly seniors.
Background Information:
Additional Resources:
Quotes:
"Ontario is making big changes to improve home and community care, one of our government’s most important health care priorities. Our new plan puts patients and their caregivers first by improving access and expanding services. We know that people who receive care in their homes – where they want to be – tend to heal faster because they are happier and more comfortable in a familiar setting. Our new plan outlines the path we will follow together with patients, caregivers and providers to improve the care people receive no matter where they live across the province. "
— Dr. Eric Hoskins, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care
"As Ontario’s population ages, the need for senior-focused health care services grows ever more important. Our government’s commitment is to help seniors age with dignity and to achieve this we are continuing to invest in services that will help more seniors get the right care so they can age in the place they most want to be, in their homes."
— Mario Sergio, Minister Responsible for Seniors
"I am pleased the Ontario government is moving in the right direction with its plan to ensure that the home and community care sector is truly client- and caregiver-centred. This is an important first step in introducing greater quality and consistency across the province when it comes to the care that clients and caregivers can expect at home and in the community, and I look forward to the next phase of the transformation."
— Gail Donner, Chair, Expert Group on Home and Community Care
Media Contact:
David Jensen
Communications and Marketing Division
416-314-6197
media.moh@ontario.ca
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