The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care's public reporting website (publicreporting.ltchomes.net) lists inspection results for Ontario's nursing homes between April 1, 2007 and March 31, 2008.
During the reporting period, eight of Durham's 19 nursing homes had clean inspection records with zero unmet standards. Three of the 19 -- Community Nursing Home Pickering, Bay Ridges Long Term Care Centre in Pickering and Sunnycrest Nursing Home in Whitby -- had citations under the legislation governing nursing homes. Eight others had at least one unmet standard, which means they failed to meet one of the standards the Province sets out for the homes it funds.
In total, long-term care facilities have to meet roughly 400 standards, which range from residents' rights to rules around nutrition, the administration of drugs and use of restraints.
Community Nursing Home Pickering, had the highest number of citations, 26, during the reporting period. The home also had six unmet standards.
Among the areas the home was cited for were the requirements for individualized, detailed residents' plans of care, and a section detailing the resident's bill of rights.
Gladys Brett, vice-president of operations for Community Lifecare Inc. which runs the home, said corporate consultants were brought in to educate staff members on complying with the Province's requirements.
"I think it was just a clarification with the staff and expectations of how they should perform their jobs and support was a large part of it," she said.
Ms. Brett said the Province considers all of the issues corrected except for the one surrounding residents' plans of care, which she's hoping the ministry will consider corrected on its next inspection.
"All of the residents have plans of care, it's just making sure all the little pieces were in place," she said.
As well, Community Lifecare Inc.'s home in Port Perry had the highest number of unmet standards during the reporting period, at 10.
Ms. Brett said seven of the unmet standards found at Community Nursing Home Port Perry were removed. Of the three outstanding, one involves choice of bathing (residents have the right to choose whether they want a shower, tub bath or sponge bath), the evaluation of residents' response to medication which was an issue with eight of 107 patients and the repositioning of residents in restraints, which has to occur every two hours.
She said the issues were corrected immediately, and is hopeful of a perfect inspection next time.
"We would like to believe that, absolutely."
Mark Nesbitt, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, said the Province has increased the frequency of its inspections by 60 per cent since 2004. During that same period, the number of unmet standards has fallen by 20 per cent.
"You have to remember that an unmet standard just means we've been in and we've worked with the home to fix the issue," he said. Homes have to submit a plan of action and they'll be subsequently inspected to make sure it's in place. Even if the home is found to be in compliance in the follow-up visit, the initial unmet standard remains on the public reporting site. Both inspection reports and plans of action are required to be publicly posted at nursing homes.
If problems persist at a home, the Ministry can impose sanctions, starting with more frequent visits and escalating the Ministry taking over the home. No Durham homes are under sanction.
Of the eight homes with zero unmet standards, three are run by the Region of Durham: Fairview Lodge in Whitby, Hillsdale Terraces in Oshawa and Lakeview Manor in Brock Township. The Region's fourth home, Hillsdale Estates in Oshawa, had two unmet standards recorded during a May 2007 visit.
Judy Heffern, the Region's director of long-term care and services for seniors, said the unmet standards have since been corrected and an action plan was submitted to the Province. A subsequent inspection in August showed no unmet standards.
"I'm not excusing it, we certainly provided education," said Ms. Heffern. "Both of those unmet standard were related to documentation."
Ms. Heffern said it's difficult to keep up with the documentation. She said staff are strapped for time when caring for residents who are increasingly requiring specialized care.
Last Wednesday, Ontario ombudsman Andre Marin announced a full systemic investigation into the Province's monitoring of long-term care facilities. He's received more than 100 complaints about nursing homes since April.
A spokesperson for the ombudsman declined to say whether any of those complaints originated in Durham. However, she said there would be more details once the report is complete, which is expected to be in six months.
Mr. Marin invited the public to come forward with their experiences with long-term care and the Province's monitoring system by calling 1-800-263-1830 or visiting www.ombudsman.on.ca.
