(Quebec) Five months after formulating its intentions, the Legault government finally mandates the Health and Welfare Commissioner to look into home care. Joanne Castonguay will examine “the performance of government programs” in place to improve the service offer in Quebec.
Posted at 8:32
The government of the Coalition avenir Québec wishes to continue “its big shift” towards home care by asking the Commissioner to examine current programs, which are still insufficient to meet demand, despite significant investments.
Its mandate will be to “draw up a portrait of the current situation of home care and support services offered in Quebec and to document the evolution of future needs in terms of home support. »
Joanne Castonguay is beginning the work now and will have to submit her recommendations no later than December 23, 2023. An interim report will have to be delivered in December 2022, two months after the elections next October.
“In a context where the number of seniors will increase significantly over the next decade and staying at home is the aspiration of the vast majority, the government wishes to pursue the major shift towards home care. However, the government must first ask itself questions to make the right choices,” wrote the MSSS in a press release.
The pandemic has brought to light major challenges that we must meet quickly to meet the needs of Quebecers and so that we never experience such a situation again. This is why our government wishes to improve its home support offer to allow people who wish to do so to stay at home, in order to preserve their autonomy as much as possible.
Christian Dubé, Minister of Health and Social Services
The Prime Minister telegraphed his intentions during his opening speech for a new parliamentary session on October 19. The Press reported a month ago that Quebec was delaying in mandating the commissioner, which sent the wrong signal according to the former PQ health minister, Réjean Hébert.
In the Girard budget, Quebec added $785 million over five years in home care. These sums are in addition to the 3 billion already invested by the government since it came to power in 2018.
Despite these significant investments, the number of Quebecers waiting for home support services is not declining, on the contrary. According to provisional data for 2021-2022, 45,637 people are waiting to receive home care, including 15,042 for a first service. This is an increase of approximately 10% over the previous year, when 41,346 Quebecers were on the waiting list.
The waiting time for access to care has also increased considerably in recent months. In 2021-2022, 23,893 Quebecers, including 7,056 for a first service, have been waiting for more than 90 days to obtain home care. This is an increase of more than 20% compared to 2020-2021, when there were 19,448 people waiting.