Home care | The big turn is long overdue

The Legault government is slow to mandate the health and well-being commissioner

Fanny Levesque
The Press

(Quebec) Four months after committing to mandate the health and welfare commissioner to review the home care model, the Legault government has still not done so. A signal that Quebec is trying to “save time” as the elections approach, deplore the opposition and the former Minister of Health Réjean Hébert.

“I am convinced that aging at home is what most Quebecers want,” said the Premier during his opening speech for a new parliamentary session on October 19. François Legault hoped to turn the page on the pandemic and put forward his priorities a year before the end of his mandate.

“At a time when we have to make a major shift towards home care, we must first ask ourselves questions about our ways of doing things. Is the home care model in Quebec efficient? Are the financing formulas effective? Are the rates fair? “, he enumerated.

He then announced in his solemn speech at the Blue Room that his government was going to mandate the Health and Welfare Commissioner (CSBE), Joanne Castonguay, to “look into home support” and then formulate ” concrete recommendations.

After verification, the CSBE – which delivered an impressive report in January on the performance of care and services for the elderly during the first wave of the pandemic – has not yet received any mandate from the government in terms of home care.

“We do not know more, for the moment, than what was mentioned by Mr. Legault […] several weeks ago already, ”confirmed the office of M^me Castonguay.

Quebec replies that the mandate will be given shortly.

“The Prime Minister has duly stated his intention to mandate the Commissioner to review the model and our ways of doing home care. The terms and conditions will be made public within a few days, ”said the office of the Minister of Health and Social Services, Christian Dubé, on Monday.

“We need political will”

But this delay does not bode well in the eyes of the former Minister of Health in the Marois Réjean Hébert government.

” The fact that [le gouvernement] delays giving the mandate, that tells me that he wants to buy time until the elections. They are certain [comme ça] that the report will not arrive before the elections. »

Mr. Hébert believes that Quebec has everything in hand to move forward with the development of a home care policy. “We absolutely do not need to have other studies, we need political will and it is not there,” says the full professor at the School of Public Health at the University of Montreal.

When he was minister, Mr. Hébert proposed the creation of “autonomy insurance for all”, a kind of long-term care insurance assessed according to the needs of an elderly person. A white paper was published and a bill tabled in 2013, but the PQ government lost power soon after.

“Major Investments”

On the contrary, the Legault government defends itself from not acting: “In 2018, we committed to investing an additional 800 million in home support. By the end of our mandate, it is rather an additional 2 billion that will be invested,” indicated the office of the minister responsible for seniors, Marguerite Blais.

According to the Ministry of M^me Blais, this is “new money” which aims to “increase the volume and quality” of home services.

In her 2020-2021 annual activity report, the ombudsman, Marie Rinfret, pointed out that the government had indeed “made significant investments” over the past two years.

“Despite this, the objective of allowing these people to live at home while receiving care and services adapted to their condition has still not been achieved,” she indicated. It noted an “insufficient” supply of services and “significant regional disparities”.

Not a priority, according to the opposition

The opposition parties share the opinion of ex-minister Hébert. ” According to me, [le gouvernement] has too many things on his plate, he cannot fight all these battles head-on, ”says Québec solidaire MP Vincent Marissal.

He also wonders about the need to conduct a new study on best practices in home care.

“Above all, we don’t need another report,” laments PQ MNA Lorraine Richard, who cites the recent work of Alain Dubuc, of the Institut du Québec, published in August. “We need action, and this government is not taking action for our seniors. It pisses me off,” she adds.

Lorraine Richard points out in passing that the Caquist government is “going headlong into its project for seniors’ homes. Words that echo those of Liberal MP Monique Sauvé.

“Home support is what seniors want more and more, and even more with COVID. But we agree that it makes less beautiful ribbon cuts […] than making an announcement for a seniors’ home,” she quips.

In the office of M.^me Blais, we deplore that the opponents “enjoy” to put home care in opposition to the development of places of accommodation, whereas it is a question of “complementary services which are addressed to different clienteles”.