Audit targets claims against PPCO

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This article was published 27/07/2023 (1203 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Allegations of physical and sexual assault from Manitobans who had loved ones in personal care homes prompted an investigation into how a provincial office was handling those complaints, Manitoba Auditor General Tyson Shtykalo told the Sun.

Several concerned Manitobans called the auditor general’s office who had relatives “who had been subjected to physical or verbal harm,” Shtykalo said.

The focus of the investigation was the Protection for Persons in Care Office (PPCO) within Manitoba Health, which was created in 2001 to investigate claims of abuse and neglect in health facilities.

There were numerous allegations against the PPCO that have been confirmed, according to a report on the auditor general’s website, including care-home residents being kicked, hit in the face with a remote control, sexually assaulted and verbally abused, which PPCO concluded was “unfounded” for abuse.

Additionally, in 2022, PPCO had a backlog of files with some allegations dating back to 2018, including some investigations that hadn’t begun. And in 2016, PPCO stopped producing annual reports, and did not report any information on the results of its investigations.

“So, when we looked at the facts of the files, we determined that there were some serious deficiencies in their investigative process, which were leading to unreasonable conclusions. We found that it wasn’t an isolated incident and the methodology and investigative process had been going on for some time,” Shtykalo said in a phone interview with the Sun.

The auditor general made 12 recommendations to PPCO, including an update to the definition of abuse and neglect.

But hours after Shtykalo’s report was made public, provincial Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen announced that the PPCO would be shut down.

“What the report revealed, specifically as it relates to abuse of elderly, is sickening and repulsive. The revelation that investigators were pressured to change the findings of their investigations by leadership at the PPCO is very, very troubling. Following a time of transition and legislative requirements, the PPCO will be disbanded, it will no longer exist,” Goertzen said during a news conference from Winnipeg.

A new independent office will be created, added Goertzen, with full powers of investigation and reporting as it relates to allegations of mistreatment or abuse of those in care, and will be funded through an all-party commission within the legislative assembly.

“The office will report to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, meaning that it will report to all elected officials in the assembly, and it will be subject to questioning by all members of the Manitoba legislature through a public committee,” Goertzen said.

In response tto the auditor general’s report, Manitoba Liberal leader Dougald Lamont called for an independent inquiry into the abuse, the PPCO, and the creation of an independent seniors’ advocate.

“The incidents detailed in this report are horrific and the government was repeatedly warned about them. If anyone treated a senior like that at home, they would be arrested. It is incredibly shameful that the PPCO was giving them a free pass,” Lamont stated in a news release.

Budget cuts and staff shortages are to blame for the PC government’s failure to protect seniors in long-term care, said Uzoma Asagwara, the NDP’s health critic.

“For years, the Pallister and Stefanson government left massive vacancies in the Department of Health, as high as 40 per cent in 2022 during the time the PPCO failed to investigate allegations of abuse, and the department of health was cut by 36 per cent from 2017 to 2022,” Asagwara said in a statement emailed to the Sun.

It has been clear for a long time that there have been some problems with the PPCO, said Thomas Linner, the provincial director of the Manitoba Health Coalition.

What’s needed, Linner added, is the creation of a seniors advocate, who would look at all aspects of seniors, and not just those in care.

“I’m not coming out against what the government has done here, but it is certainly not addressing the full issue. A seniors advocate would have a much broader role when it comes to the needs of seniors. An advocate could address issues like housing, aging in place, home care, accessing services and barriers seniors face in any given jurisdiction, “Linner said.

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