A third-party report examining how the British Columbia government responded to COVID-19 in long-term care homes during the first wave of the pandemic reveals confusion over policies and infection prevention.
The report, by Ernst & Young, says specific policy orders from the provincial health officer were interpreted differently by health authorities and there were gaps in infection prevention and control as well as emergency preparedness.
Ernst & Young – who conducted interviews with more than 40 stakeholders from the ministry, health authorities, BC Centre for Disease Control, seniors’ associations, care home operators, care providers, Hospital Employees’ Union (HEU), and several groups of managers and front-line staff – also found that the response highlighted a lack of consistent provincial policy on how health authorities and facility operators handled residents who tested positive for COVID-19.
The report did praise the government for its decision to create a health emergency command centre as well as restricting staff from working at multiple long-term care facilities, which it says contributed to stopping the spread of COVID-19 infections in care homes.
But it added that those restrictions also highlighted staffing shortages and other underlying issues.
“Health authorities also varied in their interpretation and implementation of operational orders and policies, which led to differences in practice in areas such as the process for decanting and/or isolating residents that tested positive,” read the Ernst & Young report. “PHO orders would sometimes be interpreted differently by HA MHOs, which lead to operational variation across the province.”
The report also said that accountabilities of the public health officer and MHOs in emergency situations were reported to sometimes be unclear, creating confusion.
This confusion stemmed from not knowing when the ministry should be consulting with public health versus the needs for Public Health Orders.
Health Minister Adrian Dix said last week that his government has implemented all the recommendations in the report and its assessment of the province’s actions was “overwhelmingly favourable.”
The report was completed last fall and stakeholders and the Opposition Liberals have questioned why it was not released sooner.
More than 650 of B.C.’s over 1,100 deaths from COVID-19 have been in long-term care facilities.
With files to the Canadian Press.
Graham Cox
