P.E.I. urged to provide cellphone policy for private care homes

The P.E.I. government should develop a cellphone policy to protect the privacy of clients in all nursing homes on the Island not just government-run facilities, says the president of the PEIAssociation of Licensed Community Care Facilities.

I really don't know what would be in effect at the other facilities.- Karen Cook

Karen Cook, who's also the administrator of Lady Slipper Villa, a private community care facility in O'Leary, saidshe felt "absolute shock and horror" when she learned about a major privacy breach at Margaret Stewart Ellis Home, the government-run long-term care facility in O'Leary.

A worker at the facility was fired last year after someone at the home took a photo of a deceased resident and shared it over the social media app Snapchat.

The investigation found staff were regularly using their phones to take pictures in the facility, even though in doing so they were contravening Health PEI policy. The investigation also concluded other "inappropriate and degrading" photos of residents had been taken and shared among staff.

"We certainly would not ever want to see anything like that happen again, but I guess we have to be prepared to deal with it if it does," said Cook.

No uniform policy

Cook said the facility she runs has a strict policy prohibiting staff from using their phones while working, but she doesn't know whether similar policies have been developed at the other 35 private community care facilities and nine private nursing homes on the Island.

"It's not something that we've really ever talked about so I really don't know what would be in effect at the other facilities."

The P.E.I. government provides private care facilities with an operating manual detailing standards of care. According to that manual, staff at private care homes must sign confidentiality agreements. Other than that, the manual requires the homes themselves to develop their own staff policies to protect client privacy.

A spokesperson for the P.E.I. Department of Health and Wellness told CBC News in an email that "most facilities now have policies in placeto guide cellphone use and other personnel issues." She said government inspectors look for cellphone policies during annual inspections, and "where no policy is noted, inspectors recommend that one be developed."

'Very, very stringent policy'

But Cook, who said she's normally opposed to adding to the list of policies government requires private facilities to follow, said this policy should come from government.

"We need a very, very stringent policy regarding the use of cellphones and all aspects around the privacy issue, around the care of our residents," she said.

"So that if something does happen, you have got real grounds for disciplinary action."

Cook said the issue of privacy and cellphone policies will be on the agenda when her association meets in September.

There is a specific policy prohibiting cellphone use by staff at government-run nursing homes, which was in effect when the privacy breach occurred at the home in O'Leary. The investigation recommended the policy be revised, but Health PEI has since determined no revisions were necessary.

2 staff implicated in investigation

Meanwhile, CBC News has obtained more information about the privacy breach at the Margaret Stewart Ellis Home as a result of an order from P.E.I.'s Freedom of Information and Privacy Commissioner.

The investigation, conducted by Health PEI's Human Resources co-ordinator for western P.E.I., concluded two staff members were involved in taking photos "without knowledge or consent of our vulnerable residents" and suggested consideration be given to firing both given the "serious nature of this incident."

The investigation also recommended sensitivity training for staff at Margaret Stewart Ellis Home, training around confidentiality and professional conduct, and group sessions to discuss the incident and its impact on "residents, families, staff, facility, community as well as Health PEI as a whole."

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