Inspection reports from long-term care homes now available online

As of June 1, all reports conducted in the province will be posted on the Continuing Care section of the Department of Health and Wellness website.

The public availability of the reports comes after numerous demands on Health Minister Randy Delorey for stricter regulation of long-term care homes, especially after the death of Chrissy Dunnington, a Nova Scotia woman who died in a long-term care home last year.

“I don't remember any cases in Nova Scotia where anyone was ever held accountable,” says Gary MacLeod, chairperson and founder of Advocates for the Care of the Elderly (ACE).

There are only two reports listed right now, but others will be posted as they become available, according to Delorey.

Long-term care homes are required to meet over 400 different regulations as part of both the Homes for Special Care Act and the Long-Term Care Program Requirements.

“Requirements are broad in type and scope, and it is not unusual for a facility to not meet several requirements upon inspection,” reads a statement on the website.

Mary's Abide-a-While Home Limited in Shelburne, N.S. was inspected on June 5, with one shortcoming.

“The licensee shall ensure residents' personal directives, if completed, are reviewed annually with the residents and/or authorized designates or more frequently if required to ensure their care preferences and wishes are clearly understood,” reads the report.

The inspection report for the other home, Taigh Na Mara Nursing Home in Glace Bay, N.S., lists nine categories for improvement.

The requirements for Taigh Na Mara include everything from regular sprinkler system and fire alarm testing, to ensuring that residents have appropriate dental care each day, to updating employees' job descriptions every four years.

MacLeod says ACE has been working to improve conditions in the homes for years.

“ACE team has uncovered, on average annually, 400 cases of neglect and abuse that occur in nursing homes,” he explains. “But only 20 per cent are investigated. There's very little closure for families because no one is held responsible.”

Aside from improving conditions, MacLeod reiterates the sheer number of long-term care beds is still lacking.

“It's not just the ACE team, it's the paramedics, the Nova Scotia Health Association, the nurse's union, the government employees union, doctors up in the Valley raising on GoFundMe,” he says. “The emphasis is on more long-term care beds, period.”

MacLeod says that Nova Scotia is currently in need of at least 1,200 beds. If nursing homes begin to get shut down for not meeting regulations, the situation will become even more dire.

“If you have a fair sized nursing home, a hundred beds, where are those hundred people going to go? It's a catch-22 situation,” MacLeod tells NEWS 95.7's The Todd Veinotte Show.

The advocate for better elderly care hopes that nursing homes continue to improve, but says ACE won't give up on pressuring the government to create more beds.

“There are improvements being made, especially in places like Northwood,” he says. “There's another one in Cape Breton that has reduced the number of bed sores dramatically just simple by providing better care, the prevent them from starting in the first place.”