(Quebec) Fewer seniors are now waiting to obtain home support services, but it will be impossible to eliminate the waiting list, said the Minister responsible for Seniors, Sonia Bélanger, on Wednesday.
In a speech at a national summit on home support in Quebec, she indicated that the waiting list which was 21,000 people last year was reduced to 16,500 people as of March 31.
But there will always be elderly people who will have to wait to have the services they need to remain independent at home, she suggested.
“It won’t be about bringing that back to zero within a year, it’s impossible to do that,” she said in an interview with The Canadian Press.
“There will always be a waiting list because there are always people registering every day. »
Home support is a thorny issue in Quebec with the aging of the population.
A report from the Commissioner of Health and Welfare published in January gave a worrying assessment of the state of the home support system.
In 2023, the system only met 10.7% of home support needs, said Commissioner Joanne Castonguay: it provided 25.4 million hours of services, while 234 million hours were required.