Inexcusable to fail those in care

Those charged with her care failed Chrissy Dunnington.

That’s not exactly news. It’s long been obvious the 40-year-old woman, who died in hospital in March 2018 due to an infected, bone-deep bedsore, lacked adequate care at the Shannex nursing home in Halifax where she’d resided for 14 months.

But a new Department of Health and Wellness investigative report, done under Protection of Persons in Care Act regulations and sent to Dunnington’s family last week, has now confirmed family complaints there had been multiple, serious gaps in the woman’s care at Parkstone Enhanced Care facility.

Those include gaps in documentation, assessments and overall co-ordination and oversight of care, as well as limited consultations with internal and external health professionals.

The report also found evidence Parkstone staff had not always followed the facility’s available comprehensive policies and best practice guidelines.

Questions also persist about how a Do Not Resuscitate order had been wrongly attached to Dunnington’s chart.

The province issued 11 directives to Parkstone, which the company says it’s implementing.

But the family now wants Halifax police to reopen their investigation into Dunnington’s death, saying failure to provide adequate care, including necessities of life, is a criminal offence. Police are reviewing the file.

Dunnington’s family is right to demand further action. It’s hard to overstate the grievous, extremely painful nature of the woman’s deep pressure wound — an injury entirely preventable with proper oversight and care.

No one in the care of others should have to suffer such injuries due to neglect.

But we know Chrissy Dunnington’s injuries were not an isolated case. After her death, a government snapshot found more than 150 cases of bedsores in long-term-care facilities across the province.

Her case, and others, last year prompted the province to strike an expert panel on long-term care. That group found long-term-care homes in Nova Scotia were in crisis, largely due to chronic understaffing.

Earlier this year, the McNeil government announced a number of measures, including a pressure wound policy for long-term care, online posting of investigations into abuse or neglect in personal care facilities, and an electronic licensing and inspection program for long-term-care homes.

There’s no question all Nova Scotia nursing homes are struggling to cope with the ever-moredemanding health-care needs of many residents at the same time they’re facing widespread shortages of continuing care assistants (CCAs).

Last summer, the province rightly invested nearly half a million dollars into a bursary program to help boost CCA training at Nova Scotia Community College campuses.

It’s another symptom of the demographic financial squeeze this province, and many others, face. More and more aging baby boomers are entering their post-retirement years, increasing demands on the health-care system. At the same time, fewer younger workers are entering the workforce.

That said, the neglect that led to Dunnington’s death was inexcusable.