'Understand the Act' Month: Long Term Care Annual Inspection Council Preparation
by Family Councils Ontario
When there is an annual inspection (the Resident Quality Inspection or RQI) in a Long-Term Care Home the inspectors arrive unannounced. One of their tasks is to interview the Family Council (if there is one).
To get ready for an inspection, the Family Council can prepare itself to speak with an inspector on behalf of their Council. Reviewing the questions that will be asked and having volunteers agree to be the Family Council representative are two important ways a Council can be prepared.
Find the Family Council Inspection Protocol Interview here: Family Council Interview Inspection Protocol (November 2013)
All Inspection Protocols are based on the Long-Term Care Homes Act, 2007.
Reviewing the questions may take a whole meeting or you may want to divide the questions up and discuss them over two or three meetings. Either way, give the Council members time to think carefully about each question and work through answers together so that all members understand and agree with the answers.
It is best to give members time for individual preparation; give everyone time to read through the questions and take a few minutes to answer them privately. This can be done by giving each Council member a copy of the questions before the meeting and asking them to review it in preparation for the discussion. If you do not or cannot answer a question leave it and move on to the next one (this is not a test!).
Once members have had a chance to think about the questions, have the Council go through the survey question by question and discuss the answers. See where your members agree or where your Council is not in agreement. It is normal to different perspectives on the questions. Note the differences in opinion. It’s fine to record the differences of opinion; these can be brought forward to the inspectors when the Council representatives are interviewed as points where agreement was not reached.
After your Council feels that they have answered the questions two or three council members can volunteer to be the Council representative for the inspection and take the answers that have been discussed forward. You may want to have two or three names of people who agree to speak with the inspectors just in case one of the people named cannot be reached when the inspection takes place.
Record these names in the minutes and send a communication to the administration so they are aware of who to call when an inspection takes place.
Remember that the inspectors are not inspecting the Council; they are seeing if the Home is supporting the Council and letting the council function as it should as per the Long-Term Care Homes Act. It is also important to remember that the Family Council reps being interviewed are representing the Council and not speaking only for themselves.
Family Councils have an important voice in the Home and participating in the inspection process is a place where the collective voice of the Council is heard.
Let us know how your inspection went! Visit us on Facebook!