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BCGEU applauds Seniors Advocate report: the system needs help

Three out of five health authorities are providing fewer hours of home support, while the seniors' population is growing in four out of their five areas.

Vancouver (28 Jan. 2016) — The B.C. Government and Service Employees’ Union (BCGEU/NUPGE) welcomes the first exhaustive examination of the state of seniors' care in our province. The report, Monitoring Seniors' Services, by the Seniors Advocate of B.C., paints a picture of a system that is headed in the wrong direction.

Data shows B.C. is falling behind on seniors' services

In general, the report shows that for our province's many seniors, services are barely keeping pace with the increasing needs of our aging population.

Despite stated provincial government policy shifts to increase resources to home and community care, the data show this is not the case. Three out of five health authorities are providing fewer hours of home support, while the seniors' population is growing in four out of their five areas.

"This report validates what our members tell us — home support clients are not getting enough hours of care," states BCGEU Treasurer Paul Finch. "The reduced funding for hours means less attention to each client, with the end result that seniors are suffering."

BCGEU/NUPGE looks to B.C. budget to increase funding for seniors' care

"We recognize this report as the first step in improving health outcomes for our seniors, and we applaud the work of the Seniors Advocate," Finch added. "We'd like to see these issues addressed in next month's provincial budget."

The BCGEU/NUPGE represents thousands of health care assistants in home support and residential care throughout the province. 

To read the complete report, see the Seniors Advocate website here

 

NUPGE 

The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 360,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE