Ontario’s LTC inspection system fell apart during 1st COVID-19 wave: report – CBC
Province conducted no long-term care home inspections in spring of 2020
Sep 07, 2023
Ontario’s long-term care inspection system was totally overwhelmed during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the ministry overseeing care homes was caught unprepared and unable to ensure the safety of residents and staff, the province’s ombudsman says.
In a new report issued Thursday, Ombudsman Paul Dubé revealed there were no inspections in the province’s long-term care homes for seven weeks in the spring of 2020, and no inspection reports issued for two months. That left facilities without proper oversight in a time where hundreds died in a matter of weeks.
“To effectively oversee a system, you have to have inspections,” Dubé said at a Thursday morning news conference. “It was already strained before the pandemic, and it was not ready.
“The system wasn’t there to enable inspections to happen in a safe and effective manner.”
Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-ombudsman-long-term-care-oversight-1.6959187
