Long-term care investigations performed by Sask. ombudsman


The Saskatchewan ombudsman is highlighting holes in the province’s long-term care (LTC) system in her annual report.


Last year, ombudsman Mary McFadyen received 321 health complaints, an increase from the 257 in 2020.


Fifty-six complaints were about LTC. Of those, 27 were related to COVID-19.


In 2021, the ombudsman conducted three long-term care (LTC) investigations including one into the COVID-19 outbreak at Extendicare Parkside in Regina.


All but four residents contracted the virus during the outbreak in November 2020, which led to 39 deaths.


The ombudsman made four recommendations to the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) as a result of that investigation. The SHA has since stopped putting four special-care home residents in a single bedroom. The health authority is still working toward implementing the other three recommendations.


The ombudsman made another four recommendations to Extendicare Canada as a result, including issuing a formal apology, conducting a critical incident review and improving management processes.


Extendicare has not accepted or rejected the recommendations, McFadyen said.


Since the investigation concluded, the SHA has announced its plans to end its relationship with Extendicare and take over operation of all five facilities in the province. The SHA and Extendicare are in a co-management agreement as they transition.


McFadyen said most of the recommendations for Extendicare could now be implemented by the SHA.


“But the apology, in my view, is something that Extendicare Canada Inc. should be doing to all of the families that had loved ones in the home at that time,” she said.


“They were the ones responsible and carrying out the duties of the home in November 2020 when the outbreak occurred. In my view it is their responsibility to provide an apology.”


CTV News reached out to Extendicare Canada for comment. Extendicare Canada has yet to reply.


The two other LTC investigations related to critical incident reviews and investigations when a LTC resident falls and primary decision making for someone in a LTC facility.


The ombudsman made a total of five recommendations from those two investigations to the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA), including the implementation of a “single, comprehensive, province-wide, adverse health event reporting and investigation process.”


“When an adverse health event happens it’s up to the people who it happened that they report it,” McFadyen said.


“We have found over the years quite a few cases where they weren’t reported on time.”


The SHA has accepted all of the recommendations, according to the report.


Public Interest Disclosure Act


As the province’s public interest disclosure commissioner, McFadyen recommends a legislative review of the act that protects public sector employees who want to file complaints.


The Public Interest Disclosure Act has been in place for about 10 years. In that time, only 139 public sector employees have contacted the ombudsman’s office, McFadyen said.


“Considering there is about 67,000-plus public sector employees in Saskatchewan, that’s not that many,” she said.


“My experience in my eight years is that they are not comfortable coming forward.”


According to McFadyen, a lack of complaints does not mean everything is fine, nor does it mean things are bad.


The number of public sector employees contacting the ombudsman under the act has always been low, she said. However, it has increased in the last three years.


McFadyen said a review would figure out if the act is doing what it was intended to do.


“The act was meant to provide an effective way to facilitate disclosures of wrongdoing by protecting public sector employees who report them,” she said.


McFadyen made a few basic recommendations to improve the act, adding the reporting process is “too formal” and “intimidating.”


She said a review would help address other, more complex issues.


The act currently protects employees working in the Executive Council office, all ministries, most provincial boards, commissions, agencies, authorities and Crown corporations, the Saskatchewan Health Authority and the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency.

This news is republished from another source. You can check the original article here

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