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Thursday, D ecem ber 25, 2014 - The IFP - H alton H ills - w w w .theifp.ca Page 3 e-mail: hassellsauto@bellnet.ca www.hassellautomotive.com 31 Years aND COUNTING! Merry Christmas to all of our fantastic customers, and the rest of Halton Hills who have yet to find, what we feel is, the number 1 all around auto shop in town with the best licensed technicians. We con- stantly update diagnostic equipment and maintain the highest level of integrity. There isn't anything we can't do. I have dedicated 31 years to a business I believe in. By hiring only the best and those with both skill and heart who best reflect my own ideals. I'm incredibly proud of my staff and equally thrilled to have met so many special people. Thank you. Indifference by the Ontario govern- ment, low staffing levels and not enough funding for long-term care (LTC) is resulting in the neglect of residents say personal support work- ers and nurses who took part in focus groups in five Ontario communities. The PSWs' and RPNs' responses are in a report released by the On- tario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU) called 'Long-Term Care in Ontario: Fostering Systemic Neglect.' "What PSWs and RPNs told us are frank, powerful and often heart- breaking accounts of how, despite their outmost efforts and dedica- tion they are forced to provide what amounts to substandard care to resi- dents," said Kevin Tyrell, a regional vice-president with OCHU in releas- ing the report at a media conference at Hillsview Active Living Centre in Georgetown earlier this month. Georgetown is just one of 50 Ontario communities where the OCHU is re- leasing the report. Focus group participants worked at facilities in Guelph, Blind River, Ottawa, Minden and Toronto. Tyrell said PSWs and RPNs are "demoralized and defeated by rou- tine understaffing and chronically low staffing levels, which are result- ing in lonely, isolated and often de- pressed residents. PSWs and RPNS simply don't have adequate time to provide residents with the social and emotional care they desperately need." "It's the provision of emotional care that is key to providing LTC resi- dents with a home to live in, rather than a facility where they are simply warehoused," said Dorothy Winter- burn, a PSW in Minden, who told of her own challenges in providing quality care she can be proud of. "They (residents) all deserve more than seven minutes to get ready in the morning or more than 15 minutes for a bath, or as long as they need to eat a meal," said Winter- burn. "There is no dignity in assem- bly line care." Winterburn said short staffing is causing residents to become inconti- nent and lose their mobility because there are not enough PSWs to take them to the bathroom. "This is the ultimate indignity for residents. They deserve much bet- ter. These residents fought for and helped build our country, now we must fight for them," said Winter- burn. Tyrell reported 91 per cent of study participants said they're not able to provide good quality care, while 97 per cent identified not enough staff and heavy workloads as the key reasons they can't provide quality care. "They identified dangerously high resident to staff ratios-- up to 15 residents per PSW on dayshifts and up to 42 residents per PSW on night- shifts. RPN staffing ranged from 30 to 42 per resident on both the day and nightshift. The report is calling for a legislat- ed four-hour daily care standard and higher ratio of direct care staff. Chronic understaffing is result- ing in injuries in both residents and staffs, infection, bed sores, abuse and unsafe work practices, said Tyrell. Along with the four-hour mini- mum standard of care and mandato- ry staffing ratios of one PSW per eight residents, the report also recom- mends creating segregated units for violent residents, implementing pre- placement infectious disease test- ing and providing staff time to take best practice precautions like gowns, masks and gloves to minimize out- breaks, establish acuity levels for current and incoming residents and implement care-appropriate units. Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Ted Arnott said seniors in Ontario deserve the best long-term care pos- sible. "We owe them that much and more," said Arnott. "The compassion and hard work of Ontario's personal support work- ers and registered practical nurses are indispensable towards achieving the standards of long term care that we insist upon for our seniors," said Arnott. "PSWs and RPNs are valued and appreciated by residents and families. Their concerns about un- derstaffing should not be dismissed by the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care. Arnott said in the upcoming pro- vincial budget, "the Government needs to respond to these concerns." Tyrell said the OCHU is consider- ing presenting draft legislation to the Ontario Health Minister to change the standard of care and filing an age discrimination complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Com- mission on behalf of long-term care residents. NEWS Low funding for long-term care is neglect say PSWs, RPNs By Lisa Tallyn ltallyn@theifp.ca Kevin Tyrell, OCHU regional vice- president and Dorothy Winterburn, PSW. Photo by Lisa Tallyn