Quebec is ill-prepared for the long-term care of its aging population

For more than 20 years, the MSSS has been aware that the demand for long-term accommodation will not stop increasing, we can read in the report. Yet, for almost 15 years, he did not make projections of this demand.

Furthermore, the MSSS did not take into account the actual demand for long-term accommodation in its projections for 2005 and 2019. In doing so, seniors with severe loss of autonomy waiting for a place in long-term accommodation as well as those with major neurocognitive disorders were not included in the MSSS projections.

However, since the early 2000s, the department has reiterated its desire to reorganize the supply of long-term care, in order to cope with the aging population of Quebec and the increase in people living with dementia.

But from 2005 to 2019, the MSSS has chosen not to increase the number of places in CHSLDs. In fact, this number has decreased by about 15%can we read in the report.

And it’s not because more is being done for home care, even if, since 2003, the ministry has been saying that it should always be given priority if that’s what the senior wants. It reiterated this in its 2021 Accommodation and Long-Term Care and Services Policy and in several press releases.

While spending on home care has increased since 2015, the AG finds that the MSSS has not defined how it will reorganize and finance long-term care for seniors with a great loss of autonomy in the context of the shift towards home support.

Result : currently, the offer is not sufficient to meet the demand for long-term care for seniors with a great loss of autonomy. The offer is characterized in particular by problems of access and an insufficient intensity of services. Notably, the number of people aged 70 and over waiting for a permanent place in long-term care accommodation increased between 2015 and 2020.

And this demand continues and will continue to increase, as financial projections [du] MSSS underestimate the anticipated costs.

The AG estimates that an additional investment of two billion dollars per year would be needed. The measures announced for home support, for example, offer an investment of $340 million over five years, between 2021 and 2026.

The Auditor General’s 5 recommendations

The VG establishes five recommendations for the MSSS regarding the needs of seniors with a great loss of autonomy for long-term care:

• establish an accurate picture of future demand, taking into account demographic changes and the state of health of these seniors;

• adapt the supply and funding model in the context of the shift towards home support;

• develop, together with its partners, an action plan for the planned changes to the service offer and funding;

• establish long-term forecasts of the levels of services offered;

• and inform the population of the challenges and proposed solutions.

The report ends with the comments of the MSSS, which welcomes the report of the Auditor General of Québec and takes note of the five recommendations addressed to her. In this sense, the MSSS is of the opinion that it can make improvements concerning the planning of long-term care and services for seniors with a great loss of autonomy..