Failure to Ensure Privacy During Care Plan Meetings
Penalty
Summary
Facility staff failed to ensure the privacy of residents' personal and medical information by conducting care plan meetings in residents' rooms while roommates were present. In one instance, a care plan meeting was held in a resident's room on the LTC unit with the roommate present, and the roommate made a comment indicating they were listening to the discussion. The staff had pulled the curtain for privacy, but this did not prevent the roommate from overhearing the meeting. The practice of holding care plan meetings in residents' rooms had been adopted since the COVID-19 pandemic, and staff did not consider the lack of privacy when the resident was placed on the LTC unit. Interviews with the Director of Social Services and Social Services staff confirmed that care plan meetings were routinely held in residents' rooms, and that the privacy of the meetings was not always ensured, especially when a roommate was present. The Director of Social Services acknowledged that the room layout did not provide sufficient privacy for such meetings, particularly on the LTC unit. The issue was brought to the attention of staff by the resident's family, but only at the end of the meeting.