Nanaimo Couple Calls for More Reliable Home Care After Island Health Cancels Multiple Visits

Sarah Desjardins

9/11/20263 min read

A Nanaimo couple is calling for more dependable home care services after they say multiple scheduled visits from Island Health were cancelled over a single weekend, leaving them to provide care for an elderly parent with advanced dementia.

Noel Ainsley, who lives in Nanaimo, says his bedridden mother-in-law was supposed to receive four home support visits over the weekend. Instead, he said, she received only one brief visit in a 24-hour period, while he and his wife had to cover the remaining care themselves.

Ainsley said occasional cancellations can happen and are sometimes understandable. But he said the cancellation of multiple visits over the same weekend crossed a line.

“Once in a while we understand it, but this is very frustrating,” he said.

He said it was fortunate he and his wife were not out of town and were able to step in. But he said families should not have to depend on luck to ensure vulnerable seniors receive basic care.

Family Says Cancelled Visits Have Become a Constant Worry

Ainsley and his wife live close to her parents and are able to provide care when needed. But he said that availability has effectively made them the fallback plan whenever home support falls through.

He said the couple has rarely been able to travel or even go out together over the past five years because they worry they may receive a call saying a scheduled care worker is not coming.

“We’ve been at events, or we’ve gone out for dinner, and we’ve got the call that nobody’s coming tonight,” Ainsley said.

For families caring for elderly parents, he said, the emotional and physical strain can build quickly when formal support is unreliable.

The issue, he said, is not just one missed appointment. It is the uncertainty of never knowing whether promised care will actually arrive.

Dispute Over Reason for Cancellations

Ainsley said he was told by both dispatch and a nurse that the cancelled visits were connected to an overtime ban issued by a clinical operations manager at Island Health.

Island Health disputed that characterization.

In a statement, the health authority said overtime has not been eliminated or banned. It said overtime staffing is allowed to support critical home support visits when clients cannot be supported by anyone else.

Island Health said cancellations can happen for a variety of reasons, including the complexity of care required, other client or family cancellations, and staffing pressures. It also said summer long weekends are always a particularly difficult period for scheduling.

The health authority said it could not comment directly on Ainsley’s case.

Island Health Says Highest-Need Clients Are Prioritized

Island Health said most home support clients have backup plans in place to make sure care needs can still be met when last-minute changes occur.

It said clients with the highest care needs, or those without backup support, are given priority for home support visits.

When a visit must be rescheduled, Island Health said optional or non-critical visits may be moved to another time.

The health authority said approximately 97.9 per cent of its home support visits are completed as scheduled.

But for Ainsley, the broader concern is what happens to families who repeatedly become the backup system.

He said the service still costs thousands of dollars a month, even when subsidized, and families may still have to provide care themselves when appointments are cancelled.

Seniors Advocate Says Problem Is Systemic

B.C. Seniors Advocate Dan Levitt said the issue reflects a wider problem in how home care is delivered across the province.

He said inconsistent service, missed appointments and cancellations can create serious stress for seniors and their families.

For patients, missed care can affect physical well-being, safety and dignity. For family members, Levitt said, the burden can become emotional, financial and exhausting.

“When home support doesn’t work, and the continuity of care isn’t there, the shift really goes to the family to provide that care,” Levitt said. “And ultimately, the senior isn’t getting the care they should be getting.”

Levitt said B.C. needs a provincial plan to address staffing shortages and reduce the system’s reliance on overtime.

He said better funding is needed to make home care a service families can consistently depend on.

Families Left Filling the Gaps

The case points to a growing challenge in B.C.’s health-care system: as more seniors require support at home, families are often left to fill the gaps when formal care is unavailable.

Home support is meant to help seniors remain in their homes safely and with dignity. But when visits are cancelled, the responsibility can quickly shift back to spouses, adult children and nearby relatives.

Ainsley said that is not a sustainable solution.

He said years of underfunding across public services have left families carrying too much of the burden, and that cancelling needed care is not a real financial fix.

“We have 30 years of underfunding in pretty much all areas of public life,” he said. “It’s not a financial solution to just cancel service, especially a service that’s needed.”

For Ainsley and his wife, the concern is immediate and personal. They want to know that when home care is scheduled, it will arrive.

For seniors and caregivers across the province, the larger question is whether B.C.’s home support system can become reliable enough to meet the growing need.

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