Deficiencies at P.E.I. long-term care homes worsened impact of COVID, report says

P.E.I.'s long-term care homes "were not sufficiently prepared for a pandemic" when the COVID-19 crisis began, leading to the quality of care for residents deteriorating, according to an external panel appointed by the provincial government.

The panel headed by mediator and retired lawyer Michele Dorsey reported on its work Thursday, after interviewing and surveying long-term care residents, operators, staff and unions as well as health administrators and Island families who had loved ones in the system. 

"It was traumatic," Dorsey said in an interview. "People struggled to provide care that they felt was safe. Residents felt their world had fallen apart. Sometimes they were confined to their room for 14 days at a time, not able to leave a small space. The impact of that for a senior is significant."

The report's executive summary said the impact was particularly bad during the first six months when the virus was deadly and there was no vaccine.

"In interviews with us, many people spoke of the traumatic impact of attempting to work safely amidst the threat of mass mortality in the long-term care system," the report said. "This fear was well-founded and not exaggerated, as LTC homes in other provinces reported critical conditions, resident deaths, and staff infections."

The report said many people who were interviewed said "the LTC system was deficient in several areas prior to the pandemic, which worsened the impact of COVID-19."

Two of those areas were staffing levels that "had not kept pace with the increased complexities of today's resident population," and the fact that neither the homes nor the province's health-care system had the data needed "to manage the system or a major event such as a pandemic."

As well, the report went into detail about how the lockdowns and the elimination of visits at the start of the pandemic left residents distressed and damaged their physical, social, and mental well-being. Residents couldn't move around within their buildings, let alone leave them for outside gatherings and appointments, and family visits were eliminated for a time. 

"Reduced activity resulted in worsening frailty, and also increased time in bed that contributed to reduced mobility, changes in skin integrity, and increased falls," the report said.

It recommended that in any future infectious disease plan, administrators should strive "to balance residents' right to live at risk with the rights of others to live in safety," perhaps by letting residents spell out in advance whether they value visits more than 100 per cent protection from a virus.