Health Committee on April 23rd, 2021

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Thank you. I'll just stop you there, because I'm going to squeeze one more question in.

On March 30 the CFNU said the following:

It took the Public Health Agency of Canada...until January 2021 to acknowledge what unions and many experts have said all along. Health-care workers are at risk of airborne transmission when in close proximity to an infected person. Yet PHAC still does not require health-care workers in COVID-19 units and ‘hot zones’ to wear protection from airborne transmission, such as N95 respirators.

Can you tell us what the impact of that lack of guidance from PHAC is on frontline nursing staff?

[Pauline Worsfold]

Well, nurses know: Nurses know the truth. We follow science and we make decisions based on scientific evidence. We said right from the get-go that nurses and health care workers in the hot spots and dealing with COVID-positive and COVID-presumptive patients should have access to the PPE that's required, whether it's an N95 or something else. I think the effects will be devastating. We've seen a number of health care workers already die from contracting COVID. It just breaks our hearts, because it's a tragedy that could have been avoided.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Thank you, Mr. Davies.

That brings our first round of questions to a close.

I wonder if the committee is interested in a short snapper round of about 30 seconds per party.

Is there any interest in that?

I think there is some interest—

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Chair, I see that we have four minutes. Why don't we go one minute per round?

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

We can take a shot at it. One-minute rounds generally take eight minutes, but go ahead.

We'll start with Mr. d'Entremont for one minute, please.

[Chris d'Entremont, Conservative, West Nova, NS]

I think Larry was going to pick that up.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Okay.

Mr. Maguire, please go ahead for one minute. I'll start your time now.

[Larry Maguire, Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

It's good to see all the witnesses. Thank you for your presentations.

Dr. Collins, in previous discussions we looked at a number of the other issues that you dealt with as well. Today you talked about critical care and the recovery that's needed, that front-door approach. One of those areas is in regard to long-term care and seniors.

I wonder if you could expand on some of the things you asked for there. You looked for greater stay-at-home opportunities. I think one of your reports comes out showing that it's $95 to keep a person in the home and $150 in a long-term care facility. Perhaps you could expand on that and on exactly how the vaccine rollout has occurred in our long-term care facilities and whether it has been successful at this point. I know it has reduced the numbers tremendously in there.

I just want to get your response in regard to the plan for long-term care in the future, probably, as much as anything.

Thank you.

[Dr. Ann Collins]

With respect to vaccine rollout, we have seen a marked reduction in cases in long-term care in this third wave of the pandemic. That is a good thing. We have called for and do support national standards that would improve oversight and accountability in long-term care going forward.

Regarding efforts to support seniors staying in their homes, from a survey, 96% of Canadians who were 65 and older said they would do anything to stay in their home as opposed to going to a long-term care facility. We do encourage collaborative discussions between provinces and the federal government to support senior Canadians in that endeavour.

Thank you for those questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Thank you, Mr. Maguire.

Ms. O'Connell, please go ahead for one minute, please.

[Jennifer O'Connell, Liberal, Pickering—Uxbridge, ON]

Thank you, all. I'm sorry I can't ask you all a question, but I appreciate your all being here today.

Mr. Wile, I want to pick up on what you were discussing. Vaccine distribution obviously is a provincial responsibility, and can vary. I am actually curious with regard to your work and advocacy on things like showing a health card in order to get a vaccine. I could see that it could be problematic if somebody were homeless or experiencing some trauma. I know that in my home province of Ontario, technically there shouldn't be these restrictions. However, different local health agencies are handling it differently.

Could you maybe elaborate on your experience? Are there any best practices we can share with provinces and territories?

[Dr. Stephen Wile]

With the population we serve, it is a challenge, because, regardless of what ID they have, whether it's their birth certificate or whatever, many of our staff spend a lot of time as advocates going to their home province to get their ID. I think the best thing we can do is a system like a database, which we have in most of our cities, to accurately keep track of all of these individuals who are getting their first dose. Our concerns are about the second dose. Will they be available?

Thank you for the question.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Thank you.

Mr. Thériault, you have one minute.

[Luc Thériault, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

Ms. Worsfold, in Quebec, the pandemic accelerated the desertion of nurses, with some even leaving the profession. This is likely due to the fact that we still have a long way to go to ensure the recognition and professionalization of nursing, which plays a vital role.

Do you agree with me that this recognition and professionalization is first achieved through better working conditions? Let's take the example of what we've done for personal support workers, giving them a significant salary increase to go and get that expertise and not lose it.

If we lose this expertise, we'll lose a lot more; it's not enough to simply go out and get what we need with money to get new resources.

[Pauline Worsfold]

I couldn't agree more. Working conditions are always our number one concern as working nurses, the frontline nurses. Short-staffing contributes to the working environment and the level of care you can deliver. Working conditions are number one.

Violence in the workplace is something else. It's really had a spike during the pandemic. That's a big contributing factor as well. Nurses don't want to go home at the end of their shift feeling like they haven't done their best and given the highest level of care to their patients, residents and clients.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Thank you, Mr. Thériault.

We go now to Mr. Davies for one minute.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Thank you.

Ms. Worsfold, I want to find out if you can give the committee an accurate snapshot today of whether nurses, particularly those in COVID-19 units and hot zones, are getting access to the proper personal protective equipment they need.

Why is the Public Health Agency of Canada not updating its guidelines with respect to airborne transmission?

[Pauline Worsfold]

I can't speak to why the Public Health Agency is not updating its guidelines, because the science is there. Something as recently as this week has come out again in support of the aerosolization of COVID. I don't know why they're not; I can't speak to that.

It depends on where you are as to whether you have access to the proper protective equipment. Your safety really depends on where you live and if your employer is supplying you with the proper equipment for your own safety.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ron McKinnon]

Thank you, Mr. Davies.

That really and truly uses up our time for this morning.

I really want to thank all of the witnesses for sharing their time and expertise with us today.

I want to particularly acknowledge Ms. Worsfold. I know that you came off a long shift. You're about to go on another one. I really hope, after spending your morning with us, that you're able to get some sleep.

I appreciate all of the witnesses today.

Thank you to the members.

With that, we are now adjourned.