REGINA – Saskatchewan medical students are lobbying politicians to increase funding for long-term care in the province.
In meetings with both the governing Saskatchewan Party and Opposition NDP, members of the Student Medical Society of Saskatchewan presented plans for prioritizing seniors care.
The plans include removing the $15,700 income threshold on the province’s caregiver tax benefit and increasing funding for home care to include coverage for seniors who don’t need a high level of care.
“Many studies have shown care within the home is much more financially feasible than seniors in acute care and long-term care,” said Jessica Harris, the group’s chairperson. “We’re looking at approaches that will keep them in the home as long as possible.”
“This is another issue of preventative medicine.”
The students are also advocating for more ongoing long-term care funding within the provincial budget. While the government has a $10-million fund for ‘urgent issues’, much of the money paid for items such as pressure supports and patient lifts. Harris said those types of infrastructure should be planned in advance, not on an emergency basis.
READ MORE: Does Saskatchewan need a seniors advocate?
Over the next two decades, the number of Saskatchewan residents 75 years of age or older is expected to surpass 100,000, compared to just under 76,000 in 2014, according to Sask Trends Monitor.
“This is another issue of preventative medicine,” Harris said. “We see it becoming more of an issue with a growing population. Let us try and take small steps that can be manageable for our government.”
Widespread issues
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Opposition NDP critics have pressed the government for months to admit problems in long-term care homes are not isolated.
In a Jan. 26 letter to the health minister, Saskatchewan Ombudsman Mary McFadyen wrote that seniors care complaints have come from all over the province from various types of facilities, “not only from families of residents, but also from employees working in long-term care facilities.”
NDP leader Cam Broten said this proves it’s a widespread issue. “There needs to be a recognition this is a problem and that changes need to be made.”
Broten has proposed minimum care standards and a “bill of rights” for seniors.
Greg Ottenbreit, the minister responsible for rural and remote health, admitted that cases of neglect in long-term care facilities may come from all corners of Saskatchewan, but he said overall approval of seniors homes is high.
“It’s heartbreaking … but from looking at these many cases, that is not the rule, that is the exception,” Ottenbreit.
McFadyen’s investigation into long term care complaints, which began in November 2014, is expected to become public this spring.
SEE BELOW: Ombudsman’s letter sheds more light on type of long term care complaints (highlighted by NDP)
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