Ontario’s new plan for home and community care includes an increase to home care nursing service hours to meet the needs of patients with complex care needs.
Funding for an additional 80,000 hours of nursing care is part of the 2015 Budget commitment to increase investment in home and community care by more than $750 million over the next three years. These extra hours of care will make it possible for individuals with complex conditions to receive care where they want to be – in their home and community, instead of in a hospital or in long-term care.
The proposal to provide more nursing hours is part of Patients First: A Roadmap to Strengthen Home and Community Care – a new plan to improve and expand home and community care over the next three years.
This new plan outlines how the government will transform how care is delivered at home and in the community. In addition to increasing nursing hours, key initiatives will include:
Expanding supports for family caregivers
Giving clients and caregivers greater say in choosing a provider, and how and when that provider delivers services
Clear and consistent levels of home and community care services no matter where in the province a patient lives
Enhancing support for personal support workers
Providing greater choice for palliative and end-of-life care.
This new roadmap responds to recommendations in Bringing Care Home, a report from the expert group on home and community care. At each step, the government will consult with clients, their advocates and caregivers, as well as with providers and leaders in the home and community care sector to ensure that all voices are heard.
Helping more people access better health care faster and closer to home is part of the government’s plan to build a better Ontario through its Patients First: Action Plan for Health Care, which is providing patients with faster access to the right care, better home and community care, the information they need to stay healthy and a health care system that’s sustainable for generations to come.
Click Here for the complete government news release
