Larissa Kurz
Regina Leader-Post
Saskatchewan’s auditor says the province must improve its inspections of special care homes due to concerns about safety risks for residents.
In the second volume of her 2025 report, released Tuesday, provincial auditor Tara Clemett flagged that of the 161 care homes in Saskatchewan, 30 had not been inspected in the last four years despite a 2021 pledge to do so every three years.
Clemett also found the Ministry of Health has not done follow-up inspections at high-risk facilities with documented complaints or non-compliance reports. At times, the ministry has given facilities extensions as long as six months to address their violations beyond the 30-day window they’re supposed to receive, the report stated.
“We found inspection frequency and advance notification do not align with best practice,” Clemett said during a news conference Tuesday. “Without regular inspections and follow-up, special care residents are susceptible to neglect, abuse and even death.”
Special care homes in Saskatchewan provide long-term residential care for seniors, people who are ill or have a disability. Of the 161 care homes, 125 are operated by the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) and 36 by contracted health-care affiliates.
In an emailed statement regarding the auditor’s findings, the Ministry of Health said 26 of the uninspected facilities are SHA-owned and operated, and that it is on track to complete all outstanding inspections by the end of January.
In an earlier statement, the ministry noted that “unforeseen factors” like facility outbreaks or weather can postpone inspection visits, adding that the auditor’s recommendations will be considered.
“We remain committed to building on our strong oversight through our shared goals of strengthening accountability and continued improvements across the health system to provide quality care to Saskatchewan residents,” said the statement.
Issues reported in facilities
Clemett noted in her report that Saskatchewan’s three-year inspection policy is longer than other provinces, some of which require inspections every one to two years.
Also, according to Clemett, five facilities reported critical incidents involving major injuries or deaths between 2023 and 2024 but weren’t inspected until 2025. Two of those incidents involved residents who fell and died.
Clemett found that at least one facility had repeated instances of using physical restraint on residents. Also, two other homes with “high rates of residents potentially receiving antipsychotic drugs inappropriately” were among those not inspected within the three-year benchmark.
Clemett said this raises significant concerns about patient safety and quality of care. According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, about 34 per cent of long-term care residents in Saskatchewan were receiving anti-psychotic drugs without a psychosis diagnosis as of 2024.
“This is well above the national rate of 25 per cent,” Clemett said during the news conference.
The ministry responded via email that antipsychotics may be used in cases of “severe agitation, aggression, acute delirium, or psychosis,” and are prescribed by a health practitioner and given with written consent from the resident and family.
NDP Opposition critic Meara Conway said the auditor’s findings on use of medications was “chilling,” but raised familiar questions about whether the province is adequately addressing staffing shortages in health-care facilities.
“This is not the fault of frontline workers. They are doing what they can and these facilities are understaffed,” she said. “These issues are not going to improve until this government steps in and mandates proper staffing, then funds it accordingly.”
More oversight recommended
Clemett made several recommendations to improve oversight of special care homes, including that the ministry adopt a “risk-based” inspection model that prioritizes facilities in non-compliance by placing them at the top of the list for regular check-ins.
“They should be going to homes where there’s more critical complaints,” Clemett said. “Right now, they’re allowing those homes to almost self-report and say ‘we fixed everything that you’ve asked us to.’ We would expect the ministry should go back and confirm that is the case.”
Clemett also suggested the ministry publicly report inspection results, including the last time a facility was visited.
She noted that Saskatchewan is one of just two provinces that doesn’t already do so. Newfoundland is the other.
“I think it would potentially entice special care home operators to want to fix things quicker,” Clemett said. “It is something that families and ultimately residents and people would and should want out there.”
The Ministry of Health’s statement claimed it will be “taking action” on the auditor’s recommendations to do inspections based on risk as well as increasing unannounced and follow-up inspections and making inspection results public.
lkurz@postmedia.com
