Laura Mae Lindo demands action from the Ford government after report reveals a major shortage of PSWs in long-term care homes
KITCHENER — NDP MPP Laura Mae Lindo (Kitchener Centre) visited personal support workers (PSWs) Friday at Unifor Local 1106 where she heard first-hand about the impact of the shortage of PSWs in Waterloo Region. This follows a report from the Ontario Health Coalition revealing that over the last decade, the number of support hours provided to residents in long-term care has gone down due to a shortage of trained PSWs.
“Frontline staff are overstretched and run off their feet in Kitchener’s long-term care homes. They are doing an incredible job in difficult conditions but they are chronically under-staffed and under-funded,” said Lindo.
We know demand is increasing every day, yet the Ford government is failing to invest in new long-term care beds or even to properly fund the homes we already have. No one should have to worry that the needs of their parent or grandparent are being be overlooked because hard working PSWs are too run off their feet to help.”
According to the report, long-term care homes are working with shortages of one to two PSWs on almost all shifts. Homes can be short five to 10 PSWs in every 24 hour period.
Lindo said one critical solution is found in an NDP bill, the Time to Care Act, introduced by MPP Teresa Armstrong. This legislation would require long-term care homes to provide an average of four hours of hands-on PSW care per resident per day, and put an end to the misery faced by so many families trying to find quality long-term care for their loved ones.