SEIU Local 1 Canada is very discouraged that the Sharkey Report on long term care has failed to recommend a specific minimum staffing standard.
The McGuinty government promised such a standard. This now just becomes another broken liberal promise.
Says SEIU Local 1 Canada President Sharleen Stewart, "Only a minimum staffing standard will ensure accountability and compliance for all nursing homes in Ontario to deliver a specific amount of daily care."
Sharkey made 11 recommendations:
- Enhance staff capacity (but no specific standard was set).
- Establish guidelines to support annual provincial funding for resident care including:
- Up to 2.5 hours to be provided by PSWs.
- Up to 1 hour to be provided by RNs and RPNs.
- Up to 0.5 hours to be provided by therapists, dieticians, social workers and other allied health professionals.
- Each home should have the flexibility to determine how best to align staff resources and determine staff mix. (SEIU says this will lead to a lowering of care standards because there will be no provincial regulations or standards any one home must meet).
- Develop strategies to increase recruitment and retention of health providers. (SEIU agrees. If the government can show nursing home workers better working conditions and fair compensation there should be no problem in recruiting staff).
- Each Long Term Care home will be required to develop regular/annual staffing plans using a comprehensive approach that involves resident/family councils and unions in conjunction with their LHIN. (Remember LHINs are the entities that provide the funding. Staffing levels will clearly be based on what funding the LHINs will provide).
- Staffing will be based on a team approach including job mentorship and coaching.
- Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario framework will be used for implementation for staffing and evaluation.
- Evaluate the impact of staffing increase on resident outcomes, quality of care and quality of life.
- MOHLTC must strengthen the accountability of long term care. (SEIU agrees. Private home offers less care than do municipal homes or charitable homes. Make every home deliver a specific amount of minimum care hours).
- MOHLTC establish tools to measure resident quality of care outcomes based on indicators such as functional status, continence, falls, wounds, pain, nausea, dyspnea, resident and family satisfaction, and staff satisfaction.
- Establish an impartial group to develop quality measurement tools.
Sharkey is already forming an Implementation Team that will develop a local staffing plan template.
SEIU and other stakeholders met with Sharkey and Ministry of Health officials on June 18th to hear how this implementation team is to function.
The Implementation Team will be chaired by Sharkey and include 2 experts, 2 Resident/Family members, 2 LTC Home representatives, 2 bargaining agents (Ontario nursing home unions are insisting four unions be represented on the Implementation, team), 1 LHIN representative and 1 MOHLTC representative.
SEIU will keep you posted as to how this implementation process will move forward.
What we need from all of you is feedback on what you think needs to change in your home in order to provide better quality care.
What staff mix do you believe is optimal (RN, RPNs and PSWs)?
Will more therapists and social workers have any significant impact on quality care?
Please forward your comments to your staff representative.