Dr. Kathleen MacLellan:

I might start, if that would be helpful. Obviously, the GP's direct relationship is with the private nursing home, and there is guidance in place on visits of healthcare professionals to nursing homes and their duties. One of the real things we saw during Covid was the additional expert support that was needed for nursing homes to support residents, be that geriatrician support, palliative care support or GP clinical support.

The standing up of the 23 Covid response teams across the CHOs has been a significant game changer in the level of clinical support that has been and continues to be available to nursing homes. One of the recommendations of the expert panel is that we move to put those teams on a permanent footing within the communities as community support teams and we are at a preliminary stage of considering how we can start that transition phase. It will provide that there can be a lot more clinical expertise available on an ongoing basis. That will fit well with the development of the community networks within the community as well. It will become a much more integrated system across the public and private sectors.