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Examining Long Term Care In Oxford

Dozens of people came out to two sessions hosted by the Oxford Health Coalition yesterday in Woodstock or Tillsonburg.

WOODSTOCK/TILLSONBURG - Oxford County residents had a chance to share their own stories about Long Term Care Facilities on Monday.

Bryan Smith with the Oxford Health Coalition hosted two seminars in Tillsonburg and Woodstock. He went over the Ontario Health Coalition Report which is titled Situation Critical. The report looks at some of the major issues facing Ontario Long Term Care Facilities including staffing shortages, long wait times and violence amongst residents. 

Smith went over the local numbers at the seminars and it was also a chance for people to share their stories.

"So we heard stories about violence from patients to other patients, so a patient who has dementia and not really accountable for their actions but a patient who tried to haul a frail patient out of a bed, a patient with frail bones who would have likely died if they fell out of the bed. We heard about patients be knocked down, we heard about violence against staff. People who are getting bit, slapped, shoved and pushed and that is very dangerous for the caregivers. It makes them fear their job, makes them stressed out, it makes them perhaps a danger to themselves on the drive home. I heard from a caregiver today who talked about getting into her car and weeping because she knew she was leaving work giving people less care then she would choose to give but under the conditions she works, that is all she has to give." 

Right now we have 33,000 people waiting for a long term care bed in Ontario. Smith says the numbers are only going to get worse, before they get better. 

"We know that in Oxford County that Oxford County like the rural parts of Ontario are poorly served compared to the rest of the Province. 

Smith says the purpose of the report is to make everyone aware of what is happening to our seniors and to put pressure on the Province to look at ways to improve it. 

Among the key findings in the report:

- There were 27 homicides in Ontario’s long-term care homes, according to the Ontario Coroner in the five years leading up to the report: a homicide rate that is 4-times that of Toronto and 8-times that of communities that are similarly-sized to Ontario’s long-term care home sector (80,000 people).

- Resident-on-resident violence has increased since 2011 and staff injury rates in long-term care are among the highest of any industry in our economy.

- Access to long-term care is poor, and even more difficult for equity-seeking groups.

- By every measure the acuity, that is the complexity and heaviness of the care needs of the residents in long-term care has increased dramatically. This is a result of massive hospital cuts: Ontario has cut more hospital beds than any other province and is almost at the bottom of OECD rankings. As a result, today’s long-term care homes are yesteryear’s chronic care and psychogeriatric hospitals, but without the same resources.

- In fact, long-term care beds are funded at 1/3 the rate of chronic care beds but house residents that used to be considered chronic care or psychogeriatric care. This shift is saving money at the expense of the health and safety of the vulnerable residents in long-term care and their care staff.

- While acuity has skyrocketed hands on care levels have actually declined. The result is the escalating violence that we are witnessing.

You can read the entire report online here. 

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