What we want
- The federal government needs to ensure stable funding for long-term care and home care for our senior citizens and others. Both sectors must be non-profit and publicly delivered and managed within public infrastructure.
- Home care needs $1 billion a year and long-term care needs $500 million a year.
- Non-profit, public care means more staffing, lower turnover, better quality of care, and lower user fees. Poor working conditions in the private sector put seniors and people with disabilities at risk.
How the Liberals have failed
- A study published in the Canadian Medical Journal (March 2005) revealed that staffing levels are higher in non-profit facilities than for-profit facilities.
- International literature shows that non-profit ownership is associated with higher quality, more staffing, and lower costs across the health care system.
- New and upgraded long-term care facilities are often financed by public-private partnerships.evidence shows that P3s are more expensive than public financing of infrastructure.
- Corporate “partners” cut corners in construction and design, and governments end up cutting the number of beds to meet inflated contract costs.
- Profits come at the expense of staff and patients. When Ontario introduced competitive bidding, long-standing community agencies like the Victorian Order of Nurses were often forced to close. The private home care corporations that took over offered lower pay and harsh working conditions. Clients faced a high turnover of caregivers and service where corners are cut in the interest of company profit.
- Continuing care now stands outside of the Canada Health Act. Each province regulates these services as they choose, and most have no or very low standards.
- The federal government must bring continuing care under the Canada Health Act
Why the Conservatives are worse
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and enforce the five criteria for medicare (public administration, comprehensiveness, universality, portability and accessibility) and two conditions (no extra-billing or user fees) to this sector.
What the New Democrats say
- The federal government must also work with the provinces to establish national standards for continuing care – physical infrastructure, staffing levels and quality of care.
- Parliament must receive national reporting, monitoring and enforcement of these standards. Parliament must withdraw federal transfers if provinces fail to comply.
