Hindley, Meili weigh in on new long-term care inspections program

The Saskatchewan government is going to be keeping a closer eye on long-term care homes in the province with the launch of its new inspections.

Minister for Seniors Everett Hindley said the inspections will make sure the homes are providing the best level of care.

“Any steps that we take to try to address that and to reduce the chance of some of these things that, perhaps, could be preventable, I think that’s an important step to take, and important that we’re doing this here today,” Hindley said Tuesday.

Twenty homes will be inspected initially in both urban and rural areas, including Big River, Swift Current, Saskatoon, Regina, Wakaw, Redvers and North Battleford.

Those inspections are to be finished by the end of March, then any bugs in the process will be fixed before moving on and starting the cycle of inspecting all 151 homes and 10 facilities with long-term care beds.

In her report into the deadly COVID-19 outbreak at Parkside Extendicare, the province’s ombudsman recommended homes be inspected at least every year.

The cycle outlined in the plan is for homes to be inspected every three years. Hindley said that’s just to start with.

“If there are concerns and if deemed necessary, that doesn’t rule out the ability for homes to be inspected more frequently than every three years,” said Hindley.

The minister also said the homes will know when the inspections are coming but surprise inspections could happen.

“This is also about education and identifying where there’s perhaps issues or challenges and working with homes to come up with a plan to identify and remediate any problems that may have been identified,” said Hindley.

The inspectors are being hired by the Ministry of Health and will work under its authority. Hindley said there will be a level of independence that way.

The inspectors will be looking to make sure the homes comply with the Program Guidelines for Special Care Homes, which the government says outlines the standards facilities have to meet “to provide safe and effective care.”

Although Hindley said there was oversight in place for homes previously — resident and family experience surveys, monitoring key quality indicators, monitoring safety and infection control practices, facility audits or CEO tours — Hindley said there haven’t been official inspections of care homes since the province amalgamated into health regions and then the health authority.

The province moved to health districts in 1992, to regions in 2002 and finally to the current Saskatchewan Health Authority in 2017.

When asked if there was a gap, Hindley said he wouldn’t say that.

“There is a number of other processes that were already in place and responsible for oversight and the monitoring of care and ensuring that all of the 151 care homes in the province were following and implementing the program guidelines for special care homes,” said Hindley.

The intention is for the findings and reports from the inspections to be made public, according to Hindley. He said health officials will have to figure out how things will look and how to deal with confidential information, but there will be a public reporting process.

NDP: Not enough

Saskatchewan NDP Leader Ryan Meili said the current plan isn’t enough.

“This is what we need to do: Annual inspections, all facilities and independent of the SHA so that we get the true story,” said Meili.

Meili said inspections every three years is inadequate and pointed out it’s not what the ombudsman has called for.

According to Meili, the objectivity of the inspections is key.

“We know that the situation in long-term care with understaffing, with buildings crumbling, with residents not getting the care they need is a long-standing issue and we need that objective view so that we have the full story and that we then follow up with the resources to fix it,” explained Meili.

The NDP leader said the current plan doesn’t sound much different than what the province had already been doing.

Meili also talked about the need for minimum standards of care.

“We have people continually getting inadequate care because we just don’t have enough staff — that’s an essential part of fixing this. You can inspect all you want but until you get the staff there, it’s not going to get any better,” said Meili.