Saskatoon Woman Calls For Transparency Following Ombudsman’s Report On Her Mother’s Death | The Canadian News

A Saskatoon woman says she wants to make sure seniors are safe in Saskatchewan nursing homes after her mother passed away in 2018 following an incident at a long-term care home in Rosetown, Sask.

Rose Botting’s mother, Frances Sander, was 82 when she fell into her room for a few days at her residence at the Rose Villa nursing home.

Botting said during an availability at a Saskatchewan NDP event Tuesday that his mother’s risk of falls was well documented considering she had been in a hospital for several weeks before moving to Rosetown.

However, just five days after her stay, Sander was found on the floor with blood and urine. He passed away in the hospital days later.

Matt Love, a senior critic for the Saskatchewan NDP, said Tuesday that the incident raises many concerns about the state of long-term care in the province following a preventable fall.

“We need to make sure that the circumstances that led to her mother’s tragic death never happen again for another long-term care resident in the province,” Love said.

It was not the first time that Sander fell at Rose Villa.

Botting explained how her mother fell out of bed the first night of her stay at the facility, but staff were notified of the incident thanks to an alarm. Staff notified the family of the initial collapse.

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However, Botting said the alarm did not go off the night he fell before his death. Sander, who was unconscious, was discovered on the ground by day shift workers.

“No investigation was done until we started it. We push and we push, ”shared Botting.

The Saskatchewan Ombudsman’s investigation did not return any results until last summer.

The findings of the investigation were presented to Botting in August, and he said they contained “shocking” details about how the incident happened and what happened to his mother that night.

However, what really bothered Botting was that the situation was not properly investigated, according to the report’s findings.

The report recommended that the Saskatchewan Health Authority should create a uniform investigation system for long-term care incidents.

“The Ombudsman highlighted that this has happened in the past several times,” Botting said.

He was also informed that the report would not be published but would instead be summarized in an annual report, which the family felt was not good enough.

“We believe the public should know that older people may not be safe in their nursing homes,” Botting suggested.

“We also want to put the government and the Saskatchewan Health Authority on fire to make sure seniors are safe in our funded facilities.”

The NDP said his party is calling on the government to reintroduce minimum standards of care, address chronic staff shortages at the facilities and appoint an independent advocate for older people.