Report says Ontario in PSW shortage crisis

By Chris Jones/The Oshawa Express

According to a recently released study by the Ontario Health Coalition, the province’s shortage of personal support workers (PSWs) has reached a level of “crisis”

The report titled “Caring in Crisis: Ontario’s Long-Term Care PSW Shortage” examines the shortage in Ontario’s long-term care homes, and members from the coalition were in Oshawa speaking about the report’s details.

“Starting in the last year-and-a-half, we began to hear from Unifor… that there was a severe PSW crisis – in fact, even though there are enormously long waitlists for long-term care… in some areas of Ontario they couldn’t open the beds they have available in long-term care,” says Ontario Health Coalition executive director Natalie Mehra.

Speaking to The Oshawa Express, Mehra explained the beds couldn’t be opened simply because they didn’t have enough PSWs to take care of patients.

“We began to hear this from our members as well, and we decided to do roundtable meetings with PSWs to find out where they were going if they were quitting and what was happening,” she explains.

She adds they also invited long-term care home operators, the unions representing the workers, representatives from colleges, families of patients,  long-term care, and other advocates to take part in roundtables.

“What we found was actually quite shocking,” she says. “The bottom line is, there was total consensus that there is an actual crisis. We don’t use that word lightly, but there is one.”

She says every long-term care home is working short staffed virtually every shift, and it’s worse on weekends and in rural areas.

“What it means is that care is extremely rushed. The workers describe being hurried every day, and not being able to complete basic care functions, like bathing and personal hygiene,” says Mehra.

She adds the lack of workers has an effect on the entire facility, because if residents aren’t ready on time, it impacts the meals, housekeeping, and nursing staff.

“The family members of the residents describe the same situation, and management describes the same situation,” she says.

It’s gotten to the point some college courses have been cancelled due to low enrollment.

She believes the reason for the shortage is how heavy the workload is, and the complexity of the care needs has increased.

“Today’s long-term care homes are the psycho-geriatric hospitals and the chronic care hospitals of a decade or two ago, but the care levels have not increased to what they were when those people were patients in other settings,” she says.

Because of this, Mehra explains reducing the level and amount of care has reduced the cost of providing care.

“Much of that has fallen on the backs of PSWs, who just can’t keep up,” she says.

She also adds the wages are not high enough for the risk involved in the work, as PSWs often experience violence in the workplace, and she estimates the average worker makes $17 to $19 per hour.

“The workload has gotten hard, and as the wages and the working conditions are not significantly better than other types of jobs you can get that are safer where you don’t risk injury, where you’re not frightened of the violence… people have left,” she says.

PSWs have left for employment with school boards, or working in retail stores or restaurants and bars where they can receive tips, says Mehra.

New hires will sometimes leave within a week as they are not prepared for the conditions they find, she adds.

In order to deal with the crisis, Mehra says there would need to be thousands of PSWs hired across the province.

“[The province] is building 15,000 new long-term care beds… because there are more than 36,200 people now on waitlists for long-term care,” she says.

This will be done over the next five years, but there several factors Mehra makes note of.

“The fiscal accountability office of Ontario… put out a report in November saying that even after they put out those 15,000 new beds… even after they’re done there will be 37,000 people on the waitlist,” she says.

According to Mehra, another problem is if there aren’t enough PSWs to cover every bed now, how will there be enough when these 15,000 new beds are added.

“We would need more than 6,000 PSWs to staff those beds,” she says. “In addition, we need several thousand more to address the staffing shortage that currently exists.”

The Express reached out to Minister of Long-Term Care Merrilee Fullerton on the report’s findings.

Rebecca Bozzato, press secretary for the minister, provided the following response via email.

“Staffing plays a crucial role in ensuring that the needs of all long-term care residents are being met, and  our government understands that there are real challenges when it comes to recruiting and retaining PSWs and other front line staff,” Bozzato said. “Our government has been clear that we need to address issues surrounding staffing in the long-term care sector, that’s why Minister Fullerton is currently developing a comprehensive long-term care staffing strategy with commitment to implement by the end of 2020.”

Bozzato said the Ministry is also working to improve workings conditions to promote better recruitment and retention of PSWs.

“We are committed to working with our sector partners build a 21st century system that is well-resourced, resident-centered, and ready to welcome our most vulnerable when and where they need it,” Bozzato states.

Oshawa MPP Jennifer French said the need for more PSWs is something she’s been hearing for some time in her riding.

“Since I’ve been elected the conditions in long-term care homes have been very concerning for loved ones,” French said.

French notes under the current situation, expectations for PSWs are not “manageable,” and she understands why there are shortages.
“There are very compelling reasons for people to leave their field,” she said.

The local MPP said she isn’t familiar with the staffing strategy the ministry

is developing, but she is hopeful it will result in some forward momentum.

“It really is gut wrenching to meet with the families. When we stop to think about how many PSWs are needed for long-term care, home care, and palliative care, there is a need for professional, compassionate, well-supported PSWs,” French said.