Home care chaos in store, workers say

Workers at Winnipeg’s centralized home care office have warned that an unprecedented backlog caused by understaffing and disorganization will result in thousands of home care visits being unfilled this weekend.

Multiple employees, who spoke on condition of anonymity and declined to disclose their job titles, said that as of Thursday afternoon, more than 4,200 scheduled home care visits for Saturday alone — representing more than 2,800 service hours — remain unassigned.

As a result, more than 2,400 clients may go without essential care, including medication administration and wound treatment.

Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said late Thursday the number of unfilled visits should be cut in half by the time the weekend arrives. However, that’s not good enough — something they said they’ve made clear to the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.

“I think we all know the (centralized system) rollout did not go well, and I know they’ve done a lot of work to improve things and fix the concerns, but to me, it’s still clear more work needs to be done,” Asagwara said.

The WRHA centralized its home-care scheduling system in March, in an effort to improve communication, workload and client support. The overhaul has been harshly criticized by home-care workers, who have complained of long wait times in contacting the central office.

In the first week of July, the average wait time for inbound and outbound calls, per WRHA data, was close to five hours.

The WRHA said Thursday there are issues with data tracking, as some of it, such as why outbound calls would take long periods of time to get through, doesn’t make sense.

Staff that spoke to the Free Press said they can’t get through in a timely manner to report missed appointments, calling in sick, or issues that arise in the field.

“Something needs to be done now about this before a lot of people are going to get very ill and die,” one employee said.

“Home care workers and nurses are waiting over four hours to speak to someone in the office, sometimes needing to report falls, medication questions, serious incidents or report that they will be unable to work.”

On Thursday, a WRHA spokesperson told the Free Press that the 30-day average wait time for staff calling the central office was nine minutes and 34 seconds, with the longest wait for a call in July at two hours and 27 minutes.

“We recognize there are periods when wait times may be longer than we would like, and we remain committed to reducing them as part of our broader efforts to improve the experience for clients and staff,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said only 3.7 per cent of visits end up being cancelled after going unfilled.

The home care scheduling revamp followed a review into the 2023 death of Katherine Ellis, a cancer patient who died after being misclassified and denied timely home care. Centralized scheduling was one of 21 recommendations stemming from that review.

Front-line workers say the overhaul has only made things worse.

“We celebrate whenever these concerns are voiced in the media, because we cannot bring our concerns up publicly,” one worker said. “No one in leadership is listening, not direct supervisors or their management.”

Asagwara said it’s been made very clear to WRHA leadership that feedback should be welcomed and addressed quickly.

“If they’re not being heard, I encourage those folks to bring those concerns to my office,” Asagwara said.

Another staffer who contacted the Free Press following a recent story said they were “appalled” by the health authority’s response to client concerns and “how beyond delusional they are thinking that the program is getting better.”

Some clients, meanwhile, are slipping through the cracks.

Kathy Landygo said her mother, Audrey, experienced a leak in her ostomy bag late last month and had to wait more than six hours before a nurse arrived.

Landygo said her mother initially called the after-hours home care line shortly after 7 a.m., then phoned her directly around 8 a.m., distraught and unable to manage the situation on her own.

“I followed up with the home care after-hours line at 11:21 a.m. and again at 12:56 p.m.,” Landygo said. “In both instances, I was informed that no nurse had been assigned to the call.

Despite multiple follow-up calls that afternoon, no nurse had been dispatched.

“Keep in mind, the initial call was placed at 7:10 a.m. — more than six hours earlier,” Landygo said. “My mother was supposed to attend her only grandson’s bridal shower at 2 p.m. but instead remained in a humiliating state. A nurse did not arrive until approximately 3:30 p.m., long after the event had begun.”

Landygo said this wasn’t an isolated incident. In mid-May, her mother experienced another ostomy leak and again waited more than six hours for a response after calling the after-hours line.

“Why does this continue to happen where calls go unassigned for hours?” Landygo said. “I thought the NDP government was supposed to focus on world-class health care and resolve these issues?”

Landygo said she filed a complaint with the Manitoba ombudsman on May 15 and eventually spoke with a home care coordinator about her mother’s situation. The ombudsman later closed the case. She followed up again in June after the latest incident.

“When I voiced my concerns to the home care coordinator/supervisor, I was told to contact the ombudsman,” she said. “It felt as though they were deflecting responsibility and distancing themselves from my complaints entirely.”

Asagwara said they would look into the matter as early as Thursday evening.

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca