An announcement by Premier Kathleen Wynne’s government that inspections at provincial long term care homes will be increased is being received with caution by CARP.  “It’s not clear that inspections would’ve prevented some of the awful incidents that have taken place of late,” says Vice President of Advocacy Susan Eng, “so we’re looking for a lot more than just inspections.”

The provincial government move is to hire more staff to make sure that every one of the 600-plus care homes gets at least one inspection annually.  Eng tells Zoomer Radio News, there have been many complaints.  “A person had put in a hidden video camera in his mother’s room that showed maltreatment by the night staff.  We had a situation in which a woman was locked in an elevator all night.  Another case of somebody waiting for an ambulance and no one calling to say that the ambulance was many hours late, and of course, the one violent resident who ultimately killed another resident.”  Eng says she’s not certain that  the new inspections will do anything to prevent such incidents.  But she says inspections play an important role in maintaining professional standards and accountability.