Ombudsman André Marin’s third annual report released in June documents his office’s success in helping thousands of Ontarians in the past year – and questions why hospital patients don’t have the same recourse to his services.
Citing the recent outbreaks of C. difficile, dire conditions in some long-term care facilities and the province’s unprecedented number of hospital takeovers in the past year, Marin says the time is ripe for Ontario to catch up with every other province in Canada and give its ombudsman the power to investigate complaints about hospitals.
“Ontario can no longer afford to be dead last in Canada in this area,” the Ombudsman said. “The time for change is now.”
The ombudsman praised the government and all the political parties for supporting his investigations and accepting his prescriptions for change in many other areas, but questioned why hospitals and long-term care facilities, which receive some $18 billion from the government every year, should remain immune to independent scrutiny.
“Hundreds of government organizations fall under our scrutiny and are the better for it. Why should these most important institutions, which literally deal with matters of life and death, be left out?”
The public has become increasingly outspoken about the need for independent oversight of hospitals, the ombudsman said, noting he and his predecessors have been calling for his office’s mandate to be extended to municipalities, universities, school boards and, in particular, hospitals for 33 years. In 2007-08, the Ombudsman received 276 complaints about hospitals and long-term care facilities.
“There is a revolution building – not necessarily the revolution the government initially promised in long-term care, but a common revolt,” he said.
Marin’s report reviews the sweeping reforms made by the government in response to his investigations in 2007-08 as well as in previous years. Investigations by the special ombudsman response team this past year prompted an overhaul of how Legal Aid Ontario handles funding of major criminal cases, improvements to the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services’ public communications regarding Tarion Warranty Corp., and the funding of oxygen saturation machines so children with severe respiratory disorders can be treated outside of hospital. The province also made further progress on the ombudsman’s earlier recommendations regarding property tax assessment, criminal injuries compensation, newborn screening and the lottery system.
