Family wasn't told of long-term care resident's death for almost a month

After Melanie Barker died alone in a long-term care home in London, Ont., earlier this year, it took nearly a month for her family to be notified of her death. Her family members want to know why.

Barker, 66, died on Feb. 12 at Mount Hope Centre for Long-Term Care, where she had been living for nearly a decade. According to family members, London police showed up at a former residence of one of Barker's children about 3½ weeks later to inform them of her death.

"This shouldn't have happened. It makes me so angry that she died alone and the body sat in the morgue for a month. There's no justification for that," her sister, Donna Barker, said from her home in Havelock, Ont.

According to Barker's long-term care records, provided to CBC News by the family, Barker's condition sharply worsened on Feb. 9 after choking during lunch. She died on Feb. 12, but the family says it wasn't notified until March 8.

In a statement to CBC News, St. Joseph's Healthcare London, which oversees Mount Hope Centre for Long-Term Care, said it couldn't comment on individual resident matters because of privacy legislation, but said it follows all proper procedures for notification of substitute decision makers and powers of attorney when a resident dies.

In this case, Barker's substitute decision maker was Ontario's Public Guardian and Trustee's office, which represented her wishes and best interests under the Health Care Consent Act (HCCA). Due to privacy rules, it said it couldn't speak about its role as substitute decision maker.

However, the office also acted as Barker's guardian of property since May 2010, making financial decisions on her behalf, as it does for nearly 4,550 Ontarians whose family members aren't able to be involved.

In a written response, the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General said the Public Guardian and Trustee's office "makes reasonable efforts to identify family" in its role as a guardian of property but isn't mandated to search for family members.

However, long-term care experts say both the care home and the Public Guardian and Trustee's office should have had family information on file.

Toronto-based lawyer Jane Meadus, who specializes in long-term care, said it was the home's responsibility to maintain family contact information and inform them of Barker's death.

"The home should have done it," Meadus said. "There's definitely requirements of the home to contact the family."

Barker's long-term care records reveal that as far back as September, a social worker made notes in her file flagging that there was no funeral plan in place and that family contact information was lacking. 

"Resident's health has declined and does not currently have funeral arrangements listed," the notes say. "Continue to explore contacting family to identify a funeral home for resident when necessary."

On Feb. 11, the day before she died, a social worker wrote that an "exhaustive search" for family had been completed. According to the records, because staff were unable to contact next of kin, the home would have to "follow unclaimed resident policy at time of death."