Sask. to review new standards for long-term care homes

On Tuesday, the federal government announced it will be working with provinces and territories to implement new standards in long-term care homes.

One of the new standards would see each resident getting close to four hours of direct care, something Barbara Cape, Service Employees' International Union West (SEIU West) president, said will not happen overnight.

“If we have enough staff, we can slow down that care, we can take our time with residents, we can do informed consent, we can do trauma based care,” Cape explained.

Health Minister Paul Merriman said the province is already working to adapt to the new standards.

“We have worked very quickly to make sure that there are a process in place,” Merriman said. “We're going to study these federal guidelines and make sure that they complement what we already are doing in Saskatchewan. We don't want to have a weaker system; we want to have a stronger system.”

Cape said healthcare workers should be held to the same standards not just across the province, but the country.

“Their ability to provide skilled quality care should be no different across the province and ultimately, I don't think residents and their families should be expecting any different sorts of care, no matter where they are,” Cape said.

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Adding federal guidelines will be a positive step for the national healthcare system, according to Cape.

“If we can lift the standard all across the country, part of it is we're not going to be stealing healthcare workers from each other,” she said.

Merriman added that Minister Everett Hindley would be assessing the review to determine where the province stands within the country.

“He is going to have that review and be able to see where exactly we line up and where we can do some things better,” Merriman explained.

Premier Scott Moe, along with the rest of the Canada’s premiers will be traveling to Ottawa next week to sit down with the Prime Minister Trudeau and discuss funding healthcare, which Cape hopes will lead to better care for all residents in long-term care homes.