Ontario’s Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk has released a damning report that maintains the Province wasn’t “prepared or equipped” to handle the COVID-19 pandemic.
The reasons outlined in the report include:
Residents were living in rooms with three or four occupants.
Long-term-care homes had insufficient staff and staff training to provide appropriate care.
Restricting families from visiting homes consequently eliminated a valuable source of resident care providers.
The transfer of patients designated as alternate level of care (ALC) from hospitals to long-term-care homes contributed to crowding in homes.
Infection prevention and control (IPAC) were not consistently practiced in homes even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Long-term-care homes were initially not partnered with hospitals or public health units to benefit from their expertise in infectious disease outbreaks.
A lack of structured collaboration between different government bodies and agencies on issues such as infection prevention and control inspections.
A problematic enforcement practice culminated with the Ministry completely discontinuing, in fall 2018, its proactive comprehensive inspections of homes to focus on clearing a growing backlog of critical incidents and complaints.
Measures to contain COVID-19 were initially left up to home operators.
The report includes 16 recommendations and 55 actionable items to help turn things around.
They include:
Having the Ministry of Long-Term Care consult with local public health units to develop and clearly communicate Infection Prevention And Control directives that outline clear and detailed requirements that all long-term-care homes must incorporate in their IPAC programs, as well as developing a pandemic plan for the entire long-term-care sector that clearly outlines roles and responsibilities, specific actions to be taken, and the timing of such actions in the event of a pandemic.
To read the full report and to see all the recommendations, click here
Lack of Pandemic Preparedness and Poor Infection Control Practices in Long-Term Care Contributed to COVID-19 Impacts: Auditor General https://t.co/HrJ96CUFOE #onpoli
— Auditor General ON (@OntarioAuditor) April 28, 2021