Details about this story

• Source: Toronto Star
• Date: November 17, 2011
• URL: Read the story
• Bylines: Andrew Bailey , Jesse McLean , Moira Welsh
• Topics: Nursing Homes
• Data Types: State Data , Paper Trail
• Description/Excerpt: Seniors in Ontario nursing homes are being beaten, neglected and even raped by the people hired to care for them, a Star investigation has found. There were at least a dozen cases in which the attacks were so serious, ministry inspectors determined the home should have immediately notified police. But the homes delayed and sometimes never bothered calling the cops -- pointing to a culture of secrecy in some nursing homes The Star obtained more than 1,500 inspection reports carried out since the new rules began. Each inspection was done in response to either a complaint of poor care or the nursing home’s own reporting of a critical incident such as an alleged assault or broken bones from a fall. The system relies on homes volunteering negative information about themselves or residents speaking out, even though many fear repercussions. Of 1,500 inspection reports (the Star obtained about 70 per cent of reports from the last year), serious problems were found in 900 cases. Of those, roughly 125 were abuse related, 350 revealed neglectful treatment of a senior and the remainder found other types of poor care. There are 627 homes in Ontario with 77,000 residents.