Ontario premier promises to fix shortages of home care medical supplies

Ontario Premier Doug Ford promised on Tuesday to fix problems that have led to a shortage of home care medical supplies across the province.

Health care providers say there are shortages of all kinds of items, from syringes to drainage bags to medication to devices used in mouth cleaning. The problems began after Sept. 24, when Ontario Health atHome, the organization that co-ordinates in-home and community-based care in the province, says its supply contracts were expiring and it changed providers.

The shortages are affecting patients being treated at home and those receiving end of life care.

"We're working day and night to fix this problem. And we're getting the supplies out there. I think there's a very, very small percentage. I can guarantee you, I am all over this and this will be corrected," Ford told reporters in Barrie, Ont., at an unrelated news conference.

"And the people, by the way, that have messed this up, they're going to be held accountable."

Ontario Health atHome says it is aware that some patients have experienced problems due to the shortages. The agency is now holding weekly meetings and has a "medical supplies escalation" 24-hour phone line for patients, families, caregivers and health service providers.

The organization says it also has set up a special assistance team from the provincial Supply Ontario that is working a vendor on delivery and logistics issues. 

"We are doing everything we can to address this situation and are continuing to look for opportunities to stabilize the delivery of these critical medical items," the agency says on its website. "We are working together with vendors and service providers to restore the high-quality care patients, their families and caregivers deserve."

The agency says there is no single product or set of products that isn't available or in short supply,

It goes on to say it will be reimbursing "any patient, caregiver or family member who has paid out of pocket for medical supplies due to delivery issues."

Shortages causing anxiety, health care professional says

Ann Elford, clinical manager at Chapman House in Owen Sound, Ont., an eight-bed hospice, said the situation is causing anxiety, but she has noticed some improvements.

"When I need sedation, I need it stat. And it was to come with this new order system, it's to come within four hours, and it didn't come," she said.

"If I'm giving drugs and... if it doesn't get here within the next hour, I'm going to run out or I'm going to have to borrow these drugs from other people.... that causes a lot of anxiety. It's frightening. It's scary. What do we say to the family when we're out of drugs? That's awful. That doesn't feel safe."

In one case, Elford said she needed a specific size of syringe.

"I ordered them and I was panicking because I was almost out on a weekend. I ordered them on a Monday," she said. "And on the Friday, I just got needles. I got no syringes. I called around to another pharmacy and... they actually gave me a box. So that was great."

'It's not good medicine. It's not good care': doctor

Dr. Hershl Berman, a home care doctor in Toronto, said the supply issue remains a problem. One item not arriving on time is drainage bags, either for urinary catheters or for lung or abdominal drainage. Also not readily available are sponge toothettes, a device used to provide mouth care for patients at the end of life.

"They've been asked to reuse them or clean them and that's not really a sterile method of use. And that really increases the risk of infections," he said.

Berman said having a shortage of supplies is a critical problem. He said such items help people stay at home and if they do not have them, they end up in the emergency department.

"It's not good medicine. It's not good care," he said.