January 19th, 2018

Horwath: time to fix Ontario’s long-term care system

Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath issued the following statement in response to news that violence in Ontario’s long-term care homes spiked 148 per cent between 2011 and 2016:

“I was disturbed and heartbroken to read that 2,198 residents of long-term care homes in Ontario were abused by staff in 2016. Sadly, though, I was not shocked.

Since June I have been calling for a full public inquiry into the serious problems in Ontario’s long-term care system. We need a find-and-fix mission to discover how residents, most of them vulnerable seniors, are able to be abused and neglected in homes that are supposed to be protecting them and keeping them safe and healthy.

For months, the Wynne Liberals have been denying that there’s a problem. They have refused to expand the scope of the ongoing inquiry into the murders committed by long-term care nurse Elizabeth Wettlaufer – arguing that it is broad enough to encompass all the issues Ontarians are facing in long-term care.

But just this week, a ruling issued by Justice Eileen Gillese, Commissioner of the Wettlaufer inquiry, stated that the inquiry now underway is restricted to events directly tied to the Wettlaufer murders – excluding and silencing those who have relatives or friends in long-term care homes, and those that work in long-term care.

We need a second phase to this public inquiry, immediately. We should be looking at systemic issues in long-term care, including safety of residents and staff, quality of care, funding levels, staffing levels, enforcement and inspection and the incidence of violence in long-term care homes.

Ontarians deserve to know that their loved ones and all those living in long-term care have their health, safety and dignity protected.”