February 24th, 2021
February 24th, 2021
QUEEN’S PARK — The NDP has been passionately advocating for staffing up long-term care – but the Ford government refused to hire long-term care staff before the second wave hit, and their latest timeline for staffing up means they aren’t hiring before a potential third wave either, said NDP Deputy Leader and Long-Term Care critic Sara Singh.
“In the summer of 2020, before the second wave of COVID-19 hit, British Columbia hired and trained 7,000 staff for long-term care. Quebec hired and trained 10,000 staff for long-term care. The Doug Ford government hired and trained virtually none,” said Singh. “We are one year into this pandemic. As of today, 3,860 people have lost their lives to COVID-19 in long-term care homes, and most died alone and in pain. Ford’s plan to wait until 2025 to complete a staff-up is devastatingly slow for nursing home residents and their loved ones.”
The NDP has a bill that would require every long-term care home has enough staff to offer every resident four hours per day of care and attention. The Ford government has voted against that bill again and again, blocking it again just last week.
The NDP also sought all-party support last week to give personal support workers a $4 per hour immediate and permanent raise, not only to recognize that they’re overworked and underpaid, but also to help recruit and retain staff. The Ford government also blocked that.
“Pay PSWs decently. Make their jobs permanent and full-time. Give PSWs paid sick days. And put enough staff on every shift so that they’re not run off their feet all the time,” said Singh. “If the government keeps refusing to do that, we’re going to keep seeing PSWs leave the profession faster than they’re being hired.
“The crisis in long-term care has been building over years of Conservative and Liberal privatization, underfunding and cuts. We can fix this, but we need Ford to stop putting money ahead of seniors’ lives.”
Andrea Horwath and the NDP have released their platform for long-term care and home care, which invests urgently to create and staff 50,000 more beds in smaller, more home-like settings, and brings the entire system into public and non-profit hands so that for-profit corporations will no longer be able to cut corners to pocket more profit.