Ontario Health atHome says it is doing everything it can to address the situation and “continuing to look for opportunities to stabilize the delivery of these critical medical items.”
Nov. 11, 2024
Recent changes to procurement and delivery systems by two provincial agencies are to blame for an ongoing home-care medical supply shortage in Ontario, sources tell the Star, as patients and their caregivers continue to report they can’t get supplies when they need them.
The current shortage stems from three problems introduced when Ontario Health and Ontario Health atHome changed the way supplies reach thousands of patients receiving care at home, according to industry insiders who have knowledge of the home-care medical supplies system but who are not authorized to speak publicly.
The first, they say, is that the list of medical supplies and medications needed for home care wasn’t finalized until just before the new procurement and distribution system launched in September, which didn’t provide enough time to secure inventory before the launch.
The second is that the forecasts for quantities of supplies set by the provincial agencies were too low to meet demand.
The third is that a consolidation of supply companies resulted in fewer suppliers being responsible for larger geographic areas, which contributed to logistical and delivery delays.
The sources say that both Ontario Health, which oversees health-care delivery in the province, and Ontario Health atHome, which coordinates in-home and community-based care, were warned by medical supply and distribution companies that expectations in the new procurement and fulfilment contracts weren’t realistic.
“After years of struggling through the pandemic with supply issues, these provincial agencies were warned about the fragility of medical supply chains and the need to really plan this out and build in buffers and contingencies. This process provided neither of those things,” said one industry insider involved with procurement.
Since the new contracts came into effect on Sept. 24, home-care nurses and their patients have reported widespread shortages of everything from bandages, syringes and saline solution, to IV lines, antibiotics and catheters.
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