Canada: families hiring own staff to guard aged care home residents

A growing number of families in the capital Ottawa – population 1.25 million – are hiring staff to protect their loved ones from being attacked by other residents, CBC News reports. “We don’t have staff to turn them as often as they should so they don’t get bedsores, or to spend the time feeding them,” said Al Dupuis, the co-chair of the Ottawa Health Coalition. “People are suffering neglect, and I’m sure there’s a level of frustration and despair, so people lash out at residents and staff.” According to a new report, titled ‘Situation Critical’, there were at least 27 homicides in Ontario’s aged care homes between 2012 and 2016, based on data from the state coroner. In total, cases of resident-on-resident abuse have jumped from 1,580 incidents in 2011 to 3,238 in 2016. A story that will be familiar to operators here.