Bruce Grey Owen Sound MPP Bill Walker calls the province's plan to cancel comprehensive inspections at long-term care homes "reckless and cruel."
The Ontario P.C. Critic for Seniors, Long-Term Care & Accessibility says he is troubled that Ontario is on the brink of breaking a promise to the province's 78,000 vulnerable seniors to keep them safe with annual inspections.
He says the goverment should address concerns, not suppress the complaints it hears from residents and their families. Walker says abandoning inspections is a breach of trust, and of the government's own Long-Term Care Homes Act.
He says the decision is a big concern, when the Auditor General's 2015 report found a backlog of inspections had doubled in two years, delaying investigation of critical incidents and high risk complaints.
Walker says the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care needs to come clean about why he has decided the protection of our seniors is not a priority. Walker suspects the move is about saving money.
"Ontarians want better quality control of the homes, and better accountability and transparency. That’s why the government needs to stand up for seniors and recommit to carrying out proper inspections of our long-term-care homes," says Walker in a news release.
