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Ever think about cleaning your teenager's bedroom but then pause before you walk into the mess, afraid of what you'll find?
Better to leave it be until someone expresses concern.
The province is taking a similar stance with Ontario's 600-plus long-term care homes ? when horror stories about tragedies that have happened in them because of a lack of oversight aren't ancient history.
We weren't supposed to worry about the state of nursing homes after 2010, when the Ontario government brought in a new law promising annual inspections.
But the Long-Term Care Homes Act has fallen flat and three years after Ontario's Health Ministry promised annual inspections, less than one-third of the province's 600-plus homes have undergone a full review.
In Ottawa it's a dismal record. Only two of 27 facilities have been inspected. They house just 192 of our vulnerable seniors.
Ontario's Health Minister says the full reviews are time-consuming.
Three inspectors spend 10 days investigating a facility, says Deb Matthews.
Advocates for the elderly have told QMI Agency that the province isn't doing inspections every year as they promised but instead only when there's a complaint, or a resident is harmed.
But what if a resident doesn't have relatives or the family is less involved, and hence, fewer complaints?
Aren't those exactly the kind of people the province should be protecting?
Why is the province waiting until they get hurt to act? And some aspects of care ? such as medication errors ? aren't put under the microscope at all.
It's mind-boggling especially considering earlier this month, a Peterborough family shared a video of a relative subjected to abuse.
That's not the only case.
A year ago a resident of a London nursing home was killed when he fled the facility after his care was mismanaged.
The alarming thing about not doing inspections is you don't know what you're missing. It's why you sometimes need to clean your teenager's bedroom ? because if you do find something amiss, you may catch it early enough to deal with the issue before someone gets hurt.
Ignorance may be bliss ? but not when it comes to long-term care homes.
Source: http://www.ottawasun.com/2013/05/30/ignorance-isnt-bliss-with-our-nursing-homes
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