{"id":3216,"date":"2015-09-23T12:18:27","date_gmt":"2015-09-23T16:18:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/?p=3216"},"modified":"2020-04-17T18:12:58","modified_gmt":"2020-04-17T22:12:58","slug":"auditor-wants-thorough-review-of-home-care-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/auditor-wants-thorough-review-of-home-care-services\/","title":{"rendered":"Auditor Wants Thorough Review of Home Care Services"},"content":{"rendered":"

(September 23, 2015)<\/p>\n

By Donovan Vincent, The Star News Reporter
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nearly 40 per cent of the $1.5 billion the province spends on centres that provide home and community based health care doesn\u2019t go toward \u201cface-to-face\u201d treatment of patients.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s among the key findings in a 65-page report from Ontario\u2019s auditor general, who is calling for a thorough review of how community-care access centres deliver services to patients.<\/p>\n

In her\u00a0new report on community care access centres<\/a>\u00a0(CCACs) \u2014 not-for-profit provincial government organizations that help people access home and community-based health care outside hospital settings — Ontario Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk details a maze-like system rife with inconsistencies in care and service delivery.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe current home and community care service delivery model contributes to different experiences for patients, depending on where patients reside,\u2019\u2019 the auditor noted.<\/p>\n

Community care access centres provide services such as nursing, personal support and physiotherapy for people of all ages with needs from short-term acute, to long-term chronic.<\/p>\n

There are 14 centres in the province, with about 6,630 full-time employees.<\/p>\n

Over 700,000 people are served by the centres, which receive $2.4 billion in funding from the province, and have 264 contracts with 160 third-party providers, such as the Victorian Order of Nurses.<\/p>\n

Lysyk points out that 61 per cent of the centre\u2019s expenditures go to \u201cactual face-to-face treatment of patients.\u201d<\/p>\n

Determining what the proper proportion of funding for face-to-face patient care should be can be accomplished only \u201cif we know how patient care co-ordination and administration activities in the current CCAC service delivery model add value to providing effective patient care,\u201d the auditor said.<\/p>\n

Hence her call for a \u201chard look\u201d at how the centres and third-party service providers deliver health care and related support services.<\/p>\n

Pointing out that her organization welcomes the auditor\u2019s report, Catherine Brown, CEO of the Ontario Association of Community Care Access Centres said Wednesday that CCACs provide care in a broad sense, not just face-to-face treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe work to assess, consult with other professionals and pull together the right care is an essential, direct component of patient care,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

But critics pounced on the auditor\u2019s finding about the amount of expenditures going to face-to-face care.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s quite concerning only 61 per cent of dollars are reaching face-to-face care,\u201d MPP Jeff Yurek (Elgin-Middlesex-London), the Progressive Conservative health critic, said in an interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can see that in the lack of availability of services throughout the province and people being cut and discharged from CCAC services,\u201d he added. He called for the province to act quickly to ensure that more dollars go to direct care.<\/p>\n

Saying the report shows the home-care system is \u201cbroken\u201d NDP health critic France G\u00e9linas told the Ontario legislature Wednesday that the auditor makes it clear in her report that of the dollars reaching the patient side, no analysis was ever done to see if the money was spent with results.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe auditor general made it clear that there are no standards that have been applied to this money to make sure we guarantee access, that we guarantee quality of care or care levels. None of the work that is the responsibility of the government has been done,\u201d G\u00e9linas added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe evidence provided by today\u2019s special audit should highlight not only the well-known problems in the CCACs but also the problems inherent in a contracting and sub-contracting system, and the profit-taking and lack of public accountability of private home care corporations,\u201d Natalie Mehra, executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Ontario\u2019s minister of Health and Long-Term Care Eric Hoskins said in a statement Wednesday that the provincial government \u201caccepts and endorses\u201d all of the recommendations in the auditor\u2019s report.<\/p>\n

Noting the province is increasing its investment in home and community care by $750 million over three years, Hoskins said that through a new working group the province is looking at provider contracts and fees to ensure consistency, access and quality of services across the province.<\/p>\n

Among her 16 recommendations the auditor is calling for:<\/strong><\/p>\n