There will be no limits on the amount of home care that patients in Ontario can get under a revamp of the system proposed by Health Minister Christine Elliott as part of a broader effort to end hallway health care.

Elliott unveiled legislation Tuesday to modernize the 1994 Home Care and Community Services Act, promising to increase opportunities for people to get care in their own homes and to remove barriers between different providers to deliver services more quickly and with better co-ordination.

“Patients will receive the home care they need as quickly and conveniently as possible, without having to tell their story over and over,” Elliott pledged.

The legislation, called the Connecting People to Home and Community Care Act, would allow new Ontario health teams being put in place by the government to collaborate on the best ways to meet the needs of patients, with combined input from front-line hospital staff, primary care providers, home care and long-term care as needed in each individual case.

The health teams will work together to understand a patient’s full medical history and “directly connect” him or her to the type of care needed, said Elliott, who hinted at such measures a year ago in announcing a major reform of the entire health care system.

Under the existing system, all care is co-ordinated by approved agencies, which have been criticized as an extra layer of bureaucracy.

A backgrounder from the health ministry describing the new system said it will provide more “flexibility” and remove “service maximums, enabling provision of care to be based on identified needs and resources.”

New measures will include secure video conferencing and remote monitoring devices, allowing people with chronic conditions to be monitored at home “with a nurse checking in as needed.” Nurses and therapists could also check in with patients by video conference to coach personal support workers, aiding them to provide more specialized care, the backgrounder added.

New Democrat MPP France Gélinas (Nickel Belt) said she doesn’t see how the bill will make any difference and warned it could lead to more privatization and result in less oversight.

“(Premier) Doug Ford’s cuts and consolidations in health care have done nothing to fix hallway medicine and to get patients the care they need whether that’s in hospital, in long-term care, or at home,” added the NDP health critic.

“Now, we’re given a bill that takes Ontario’s disastrous home care system, and tinkers and meddles a little, instead of fixing the system.”

The president of the Ontario Hospital Association, who has been calling for a more flexible model of home care, applauded the legislation’s intent.

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“Home and community care is a key part of the solution to hospital overcrowding and hallway medicine, especially as our population ages and grows,” said Anthony Dale.

“Modernizing the complex home and community care system requires increased flexibility and openness to innovation, and today's announcement is an important first step in that direction.”