Nova Scotia changes policy on nursing home waiting lists
Refusing a spot will get you kicked off the waiting list
The Nova Scotia government is changing the rules for people entering nursing homes.
The changes are designed to ensure people who need nursing home beds the most get them, while others get support at home.
Leo Glavine, the health and wellness minister, expressed confidence these changes will be an improvement, but not everyone agrees with his assessment.
"We can, and are, making changes to the way we do things,"Glavine said.
Today, nearly 2,500 people are on a waiting list for a nursing home bed in the province. For many, it’s what the minister calls a personal insurance plan: they’re not ready to go into a home now, but figure they will need a bed at some point down the road.
"As of March, people who refuse a nursing home bed will be removed from the waiting list, but can reapply in three months,"he said.
"As of this fall, people will no longer get a nursing home bed based on when they applied for one, but instead based on need.”
Glavine says 44 per cent of people waiting for a nursing home bed never use home care.
The government says it will encourage the others to stay in their own homes.
"I think we can find a wonderful balance with this: strong home care and with the availability of nursing home beds when the need and risk is at its greatest,"he said.
Home care hard to find
Opposition parties challenged his assessment.
"In rural Nova Scotia, it's very hard to get home care," said Alfie MacLeod, the PC member for Sydney River-Mira-Louisbourg.
And the NDP say the wait for home care keeps getting longer.
Dave Wilson, who served as health minister for the previous NDP government, said the Liberals are just shifting people from the nursing home list to a home care list, while ignoring the need for more nursing home beds.
"There was a plan in place to increase the [number of] long-term care beds here in Nova Scotia and we've seen this government just throw that plan out,"he said.
Glavine acknowledged home care funding will have to be reviewed each year with an eye to increasing the budget. He says the province spent $188 million on home care last year.