Inter Pares has released a new report, The Impact of COVID-19 in Canada’s Long-Term Care Homes and Recommendations for Change, highlighting the toll of the virus on residents and patients in care homes during the pandemic.
The report details how the deaths of over 15,000 people in long-term care facilities exposed serious flaws in the system, some of which could have been addressed prior to the pandemic had governments acted on concerns raised by health care advocates over recent years. The report also finds that governments failed to take action following the first wave of the pandemic, resulting in thousands more preventable deaths in subsequent waves. The problems in long-term care remain unresolved, and risk slipping from the public agenda.
The report urges immediate attention to fix Canada’s long-term care system. It brings forward seven recommendations, including creating a nationally-coordinated system adhering to national standards that are based on the principles of the Canada Health Act; a call for facilities to receive federal funding contingent on these standards being met by the provinces, with regular monitoring and reporting to verify compliance; and that the system should be transitioned to not-for-profit delivery of all long-term care services.
Download the full report here.
