Nova Scotia home support services wait list shrinks dramatically
There's been a dramatic drop in the length of Nova Scotia's wait lists for home support services.
According to figures from the Nova Scotia Department of Health and Wellness, the wait list on July 8 stood at 206 clients. That represents a 68 per cent drop in one year, and the lowest level since the province started tracking the length of the wait list in the fall of 2014.
Home support is provided by continuing care assistants who help clients dress and bathe, and perform light housework.
Continuing care assistants are employed by local agencies such as VON Canada. Care is co-ordinated by the Nova Scotia Health Authority and funded by the Department of Health and Wellness.
Big decline in western health zone
The wait list reduction was especially dramatic in the province's western health zone, made up of the Annapolis Valley and the South Shore.
A year ago, 328 people were waiting for home support in that zone. By July 8, there were 108.
In the Annapolis Valley, VON Canada was able to erase its wait list entirely.
"We eliminated our wait list June 3," said Kathy Swindell, executive director for the Annapolis Valley for VON Canada.
Swindell said her organization attacked the wait list from several angles:
- It hired more than 20 new graduates of continuing care assistant programs, primarily from the Nova Scotia Community College.
- Continuing care assistant routes were redesigned to minimize travel time between homes.
- Clients were also encouraged to let VON know 24 hours in advance if they needed to cancel home support.
Time lost to missed appointments
Swindell says continuing care assistants can lose up to 10 per cent of their time to clients who miss appointments.
"We're going to the door, they're not home. So, we're having to determine, are they safe? Are they home? Have they injured themselves? Have they fallen?" she said.
The Nova Scotia Health Authority is also performing more frequent assessments of clients' home support needs.
"We hear from the agencies in a really timely way about when a person's situation changes, whether they need more service or less service," said Susan Stevens, senior director of continuing care at the Nova Scotia Health Authority.
"Then we respond in a timely way to make those changes."
Increased productivity
Swindell says the combination of efficiencies adds up.
"Just with all the work we've done around cancellations and reassessments, not just with the VON, but with that whole team, we've been able to increase our productivity by 20 to 25 per cent," she said.
Stevens believes Nova Scotia's shrinking home support wait list is a bright spot in Canadian health care.
"If you were to call across the country … you'd probably be hearing wait times are going up or wait lists are going up," she said.
