How to report a concern or complaint about
a long-term care home
On July 1, 2010, the Long-Term Care Homes Act, 2007 came into effect. It reinforces
that long-term care homes are where residents live, and must be places where they
feel safe, secure and comfortable, and receive care that meets their needs – including
physical, psychological, social, spiritual and cultural needs.
To help support a high quality of life for all residents in long-term care homes, we
have established a process people can use to report concerns or complaints. You
can also use the same process to tell us about things that homes are doing well.
Who can report a concern or complaint?
Anyone who is concerned about any resident’s situation can report a concern or
complaint, including:
• aresident
• afamilymember
• someoneemployedbythehome
• anyoneprovidingservicestotheresident
• anymemberofthepublic.
How do I report?
Use any or all of the following options:
Follow the home’s complaint procedures.
Reporting your concern directly to the home is usually the best and fastest way to
solve the problem.
Under the Long-Term Care Homes Act, 2007, all long-term care homes in Ontario
must have written procedures for making complaints, and post these procedures
where people can see them.
If the inspector finds the home is NOT complying with the Act, he or she will describe
the problem in an inspection report. The home will be expected to fix the problem and
comply with any orders from the inspector or the responsible Director at the Ministry
of Health and Long-Term Care.
Once the inspection is complete, the ministry will contact you and tell you about
the
findings and actions taken. We are careful to respect the privacy of residents when
reporting on our inspections. When telling you what has been done to resolve your
complaint, the inspector will only provide information permitted by the Personal
Health Information Protection Act, 2004.
What about privacy?
People making complaints do not have to give their name or any contact information.
If you do provide your name, we are committed to protecting people’s privacy and all
complaints are treated as confidential. Information about complaints is only disclosed
if a law requires or allows the ministry to disclose it.
Long-term care homes are not told who has complained; however, the home may be
able to identify the person based on the nature of the complaint.
To encourage people to report any concerns, the Long-Term Care Homes Act, 2007
provides protection for residents as well as anyone else who makes a complaint from
any retaliation. If you feel that you or anyone else is being treated unfairly because
you complained, contact the ministry right away.
Members of the public can request information about inspection reports for a
long-term care home. In the future, the ministry also plans to post information
about inspections on a website. In these cases, the ministry will only disclose the
information permitted or required by law.
Questions?
If you want more information about reporting a concern or complaint, ask the home
for its complaints procedure or call the ministry’s confidential toll-free number.
Long-Term Care ACTION Line
1-866-434-0144
7 days a week, 8:30 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Catalogue No. 014988 ISBN: 978-1-4435-3542-7 (PDF) 24.2M July 2010 © Queen’s Printer for Ontario 2010
ADM-G-10.40(h)
April 2019
If a complaint is about possible harm to a resident, the home must investigate
the complaint immediately.
Homes must respond to a verbal or written complaint about the care of a resident or
the operation of the home within 10 business days, if possible. If the home cannot
investigate and resolve your complaint in 10 business days, it must let you know that it
has received your complaint and give you the date when you can expect the complaint
to be resolved.
When a home responds to a complaint, it must explain:
• whatithasdonetoresolvethecomplaintor
• why,inthehome’sview,thereisnocauseforthecomplaint.
Contact the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.
You can do this in one of two ways:
Call the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s toll-free
Long-Term Care ACTION Line at 1
-
866
-
434
-
0144.
The person answering the ACTION Line will take down your information, ask you
some
questions, assess the problem, and give the information to an inspector for
follow-up.
The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s Long-Term Care ACTION Line is open
seven days a week, from 8:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
OR
Send a written letter, by mail, to the responsible Director at the
Ministry of Long-Term Care at the following address:
Director,
Performance Improvement and Compliance Branch
Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care,
55 St. Clair Avenue West, 8th Floor, Suite 800
Toronto ON M4V 2Y7
You will receive a letter or phone call to let you know that the ministry has received
your complaint. The Director will refer your complaint to an inspector who will look
into the matter.
What information should I give the ministry when I report
a concern or complaint?
The more details you provide, the easier it will be for our inspectors to look into
the problem.
At a minimum, your complaint should include:
• name
ofthelong-termcarehome
• address
ofthelong-termcarehome(includingcity)
• a
descriptionofyourconcern.
Please provide the following information if it is available:
• who
wasinvolved
• whathappened
• whenithappened
• where
inthehomeoroutsideofthehometheincidenthappened
• your
name,addressandtelephonenumber(optional).
If we have your contact information, the inspector can call you for more information
and notify you when the inspection is done.
However, you do not have to provide your name, address or phone number.
You can make your complaint anonymously.
What will the ministry do?
An inspector will conduct an inquiry and visit the long-term care home immediately
if the complaint indicates that any of the following may have occurred:
•
Improperorincompetentcareortreatment,abuse,neglectorunlawfulconduct
that resulted in serious harm or a risk of serious harm to a resident
•
Retaliationagainstaresidentoranyotherpersonforreportinginformationtothe
ministry or testifying in a proceeding
In all other cases, an inspector will contact you to talk about the problem and how
to resolve it.
When looking into the problem, the inspector may talk to residents, families, staff
or other people. He or she may also review documents and watch the way the home
operates. It is the inspector’s role to ensure the home is complying with the Long-Term
Care
HomesAct,2007(theAct).
ADM-B-10.02(h)
January 2016
If a complaint is about possible harm to a resident, the home must investigate
the complaint immediately.
Homes must respond to a verbal or written complaint about the care of a resident or
the operation of the home within 10 business days, if possible. If the home cannot
investigate and resolve your complaint in 10 business days, it must let you know that it
has received your complaint and give you the date when you can expect the complaint
to be resolved.
When a home responds to a complaint, it must explain:
• what
ithasdonetoresolvethecomplaintor
• why,
inthehome’s view, thereisnocauseforthecomplaint.
Contact the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.
You can do this in one of two ways:
Call the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s toll-free
Long-Term Care ACTION Line at 1
-
866
-
434
-
0144.
The person answering the ACTION Line will take down your information, ask you
some
questions, assess the problem, and give the information to an inspector for
follow-up.
The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s Long-Term Care ACTION Line is open
seven days a week, from 8:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
OR
Send a written letter, by mail, to the responsible Director at the
Ministry of Long-Term Care at the following address:
Director,
Performance Improvement and Compliance Branch
Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care,
55 St. Clair Avenue West, 8th Floor, Suite 800
Toronto ON M4V 2Y7
You will receive a letter or phone call to let you know that the ministry has received
your complaint. The Director will refer your complaint to an inspector who will look
into the matter.
What information should I give the ministry when I report
a concern or complaint?
The more details you provide, the easier it will be for our inspectors to look into
the problem.
At a minimum, your complaint should include:
• nameofthelong-termcarehome
• addressofthelong-termcarehome(includingcity)
• adescriptionofyourconcern.
Please provide the following information if it is available:
• whowasinvolved
• whathappened
• whenithappened
• whereinthehomeoroutsideofthehometheincidenthappened
• yourname,addressandtelephonenumber(optional).
If we have your contact information, the inspector can call you for more information
and notify you when the inspection is done.
However, you do not have to provide your name, address or phone number.
You can make your complaint anonymously.
What will the ministry do?
An inspector will conduct an inquiry and visit the long-term care home immediately
if the complaint indicates that any of the following may have occurred:
• Improperorincompetentcareortreatment,abuse,neglectorunlawfulconduct
that resulted in serious harm or a risk of serious harm to a resident
• Retaliationagainstaresidentoranyotherpersonforreportinginformationtothe
ministry or testifying in a proceeding
In all other cases, an inspector will contact you to talk about the problem and how
to resolve it.
When looking into the problem, the inspector may talk to residents, families, staff
or other people. He or she may also review documents and watch the way the home
operates. It is the inspector’s role to ensure the home is complying with the Long-Term
CareHomesAct,2007(theAct).
ADM-B-10.02(h)
January 2016
How to report a concern or complaint about
a long-term care home
On July 1, 2010, the Long-Term Care Homes Act, 2007 came into effect. It reinforces
that long-term care homes are where residents live, and must be places where they
feel safe, secure and comfortable, and receive care that meets their needs – including
physical, psychological, social, spiritual and cultural needs.
To help support a high quality of life for all residents in long-term care homes, we
have established a process people can use to report concerns or complaints. You
can also use the same process to tell us about things that homes are doing well.
Who can report a concern or complaint?
Anyone who is concerned about any resident’s situation can report a concern or
complaint, including:
• aresident
• a
familymember
• someone
employedbythehome
• anyone
providingservicestotheresident
• any
memberofthepublic.
How do I report?
Use any or all of the following options:
Follow the home’s complaint procedures.
Reporting your concern directly to the home is usually the best and fastest way to
solve the problem.
Under the Long-Term Care Homes Act, 2007, all long-term care homes in Ontario
must have written procedures for making complaints, and post these procedures
where people can see them.
If the inspector finds the home is NOT complying with the Act, he or she will describe
the problem in an inspection report. The home will be expected to fix the problem and
comply with any orders from the inspector or the responsible Director at the Ministry
of Health and Long-Term Care.
Once the inspection is complete, the ministry will contact you and tell you about
the
findings and actions taken. We are careful to respect the privacy of residents when
reporting on our inspections. When telling you what has been done to resolve your
complaint, the inspector will only provide information permitted by the Personal
Health Information Protection Act, 2004.
What about privacy?
People making complaints do not have to give their name or any contact information.
If you do provide your name, we are committed to protecting people’s privacy and all
complaints are treated as confidential. Information about complaints is only disclosed
if a law requires or allows the ministry to disclose it.
Long-term care homes are not told who has complained; however, the home may be
able to identify the person based on the nature of the complaint.
To encourage people to report any concerns, the Long-Term Care Homes Act, 2007
provides protection for residents as well as anyone else who makes a complaint from
any retaliation. If you feel that you or anyone else is being treated unfairly because
you complained, contact the ministry right away.
Members of the public can request information about inspection reports for a
long-term care home. In the future, the ministry also plans to post information
about inspections on a website. In these cases, the ministry will only disclose the
information permitted or required by law.
Questions?
If you want more information about reporting a concern or complaint, ask the home
for its complaints procedure or call the ministry’s confidential toll-free number.
Long-Term Care ACTION Line
1-866-434-0144
7 days a week, 8:30 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Catalogue No. 014988 ISBN: 978-1-4435-3542-7 (PDF) 24.2M July 2010 © Queen’s Printer for Ontario 2010
ADM-B-10.02(h)
January 2016