The Health Services Insurance Amendment Act (Personal Care Home Guidelines)

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2nd Session, 42nd Legislature

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Bill 212

THE HEALTH SERVICES INSURANCE AMENDMENT ACT (PERSONAL CARE HOME GUIDELINES)

Bilingual version (PDF)

Explanatory Note

(Assented to )

HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, enacts as follows:

C.C.S.M. c. H35 amended

The Health Services Insurance Act is amended by this Act.

Subsection 2(1) is amended by adding the following definitions:

"direct care" means services and procedures provided by staff of a personal care home directly to an insured person who resides in the personal care home to support the person's health, safety or comfort; (« soins directs »)

"paid care" means paid staff time for providing direct care and other time for which staff of a personal care home receive remuneration in the scope of their employment, and includes paid time in respect of vacation, sick leave, statutory holidays and professional development; (« soins rémunérés »)

The following is added after section 3:

Staffing guidelines for personal care homes

3.1(1)

The minister must exercise the power in clause 3(2)(c) to ensure that

(a) standards are established for direct care that adequately provide for the health, safety and comfort of persons who reside in a personal care home; and

(b) standards for the staffing of personal care homes are established that are not less than those specified by the minister's department in the Personal Care Home Staffing Guidelines as it read on November 30, 2007, including

(i) the standards for the number of hours of paid care per resident of the personal care home, and

(ii) the standards for the percentage of paid care to be provided by registered nurses, registered psychiatric nurses and licensed practical nurses per resident of a personal care home.

Conflict

3.1(2)

A regulation, standard or guideline that is inconsistent with the standards required under subsection (1) is of no effect to the extent of the inconsistency.

Standard not a regulation

3.1(3)

A standard required under this section is not a regulation within the meaning of The Statutes and Regulations Act.

Operator's reporting on direct care and paid care

3.2(1)

The operator of a personal care home must report at least annually to the minister on the operator's compliance with the standards established under subsection 3.1(1).

Form and manner of reporting

3.2(2)

The report must be provided to the minister in the form and manner, and within the time, specified by the minister and must list separately each occasion on which the operator failed to comply with the standards established under subsection 3.1(1).

Operator's reports to be included in annual report

3.2(3)

The minister must compile the reports received under subsection (2) and include the results in the minister's annual report tabled in the Assembly under subsection 6(2).

Reporting re standards in 2021-2022 and after

3.2(4)

In the minister's annual report for the 2021-2022 fiscal year and in each subsequent report, the minister must report on the average number of hours of direct care provided in personal care homes in the province and, if that number is not at least four hours per day for each insured person who resides in a personal care home, the minister must report on

(a) the reasons at least four hours of direct care was not provided; and

(b) how the care given adequately provided for the health, safety and comfort of the residents.

Coming into force

This Act comes into force on the day it receives royal assent.

Explanatory Note

Currently, under provincial guidelines personal care homes must provide each resident with 3.6 paid hours of care each day. Depending on the number of residents, up to 35% of the care must be provided by nursing professionals.

The hours of paid care include time that is not spent providing direct care to the residents of a personal care home.

This Bill amends The Health Services Insurance Act to require the minister to ensure that the current standards for paid care set out in the guidelines are maintained. The minister must also establish standards to ensure that the direct care provided to residents is adequate.

Personal care homes and the minister must report annually about compliance with the standards.

If, by the end of the 2021-2022 fiscal year, the average amount of direct care provided is not at least four hours per day per resident, the minister must report the reasons for failing to achieve this target and how the actual care given adequately provides for the health, safety and comfort of the residents.