Medical supply delays disrupting home care across Ontario
CBC
A Newmarket woman says home care for her husband, who is in palliative care with Stage 4 cancer, has been disrupted amid delays and shortages across Ontario for home and palliative care supplies.
Patti Moss is a full-time caregiver for her husband, Steven Clark. When they began home care in August, she said everything ran smoothly.
"It was an incredible service," she said.
But last month, Clark's nurses began mentioning they were having issues obtaining the correct supplies. On Sept. 24, Ontario Health atHome launched new supply contracts for the delivery of medical items.
Since then, Moss says some critical supplies stopped arriving.
In one instance, after a round of chemotherapy in October, the hospital ordered hydration for Clark for three days — but by the second day, nothing had arrived. Clark's home-care nurses borrowed hydration supplies for him from other patients, Moss said.
The delays have caused anxiety and stress for her entire family, particularly her husband.
"The nature of his diagnosis means that he's always worrying about us and what the future holds for us," Moss said. "This has created another level of worry for him."
Dying people have been unable to get sedatives and patients are going to hospital because their supplies have run out, the province's doctors say.
On Monday, Health Minister Sylvia Jones said she and her ministry are working hard to rectify the "frustrating" situation, calling it "absolutely unacceptable."
"We have been working with Ontario Health atHome to ensure that no patients, no patients' families, no clinicians are impacted by a logistics issue," she said.
In a statement, Ontario Health atHome said it is doing everything possible to stabilize the delivery of critical medical items.
"Ontario Health atHome takes any impact to our patients very seriously, and we understand the distress this is causing," the agency said.
Jones said she has directed the agency to reimburse any patient, family or clinician who has paid out of pocket for necessary equipment.
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