New Policy for Nursing-Home Admissions Puts Care Needs First
HEALTH--New Policy for Nursing-Home Admissions Puts Care Needs First
Seniors' care needs will soon be the only key to the doors of Nova Scotia nursing homes. Ability to pay will not be a criteria. A single, co-ordinated placement list in each district will also streamline the admissions process for seniors, and give government an accurate picture of the need for nursing home beds, home care and other health care services for seniors and others.
Beginning Feb. 1, all seniors applying to nursing homes must undergo an assessment process to identify their unique care needs.
Currently, an assessment of care needs, as well as a financial assessment, are required for seniors whose nursing home care is partially or fully funded by government, but seniors who are able to pay themselves are not required to be assessed. As a result, a private-pay senior may be admitted to a nursing home, without any assessment. He or she may also be admitted ahead of a government-assisted senior with a demonstrated need. In this type of a scenario, neither senior is served well.
"This has to change," said Mr. Muir. "We want our seniors to have fair access to the best possible care to meet their needs. By requiring that every applicant be assessed using the same criteria, everyone is on the same playing field and we can ensure beds go to those who need them most."
Providing more appropriate care for seniors will have a ripple effect in hospitals. A recent facilities study showed one in four people in hospital beds -- most of them seniors -- do not require that level of care. Freeing up as many as one in four beds would have a significant impact on the service hospitals can provide, from emergency to operating rooms. Despite the fact that nursing home beds are routinely becoming available, hospital patients are the least likely to access them.
The new approach will lead to one co-ordinated, prioritized placement list for each health district. Currently, individual nursing homes have separate wait lists for both government-funded and private-pay applicants. As well, individuals apply to more than one nursing home just in case, or applying for care years before they will need it, is leading to duplication and a misleading demand for nursing home beds.
Up until a few months ago, there appeared to be a wait list of more than 400 people in Industrial Cape Breton. However, a pilot project testing this new approach began in October and the wait list now contains fewer than 100 names.
"We are prepared to respond to the real needs of seniors for long-term care, home care and other services," said the minister, "but we will not write a blank cheque. Our approach will provide us with the evidence we need to provide the right care for seniors, while investing tax dollars responsibly."
Recognizing the benefits to seniors, a number of the 70 licensed nursing homes in the province already require an assessment for their clients.
Needs assessment is considered to be the backbone of the province's Single-Entry Access system. The new approach for accessing continuing care services is currently being tested in Districts 7 and 8, which include all of Cape Breton and the counties of Antigonish and Guysborough. Single-entry access is expected to begin rolling out provincewide this spring.