Opposition wants details of alleged sharing of photo of dead home-care resident

CHARLOTTETOWN — The P.E.I. government is under fire for its handling of a privacy breach in which photos taken of residents of a long term care home were shared on social media.

A CBC report says one photo shared on Snapchat in the spring of 2015 was a head shot of a deceased resident of the provincially run Margaret Stewart Ellis Home in O’Leary.

On Tuesday the Opposition Progressive Conservatives called for the immediate release of information about an incident the party alleges was “covered up” for more than a year.

“If pictures are being taken of either a deceased individual or a senior in a vulnerable circumstance and then shared publicly, fundamentally it is just wrong,” said James Aylward, the Tory health critic.

“Honestly I don’t know why this file was not turned over to the RCMP for an investigation.”

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Aylward said it took a Freedom of Information request by the media for the breaches — which allegedly involved multiple photos and videos of elderly residents — to be even brought to light.

“It goes against the grain of what this (Liberal) government campaigned on . . . about being open and being transparent,” he said.

In a statement released by Health PEI on behalf of executive director of human resources Tanya Tynski, the department confirmed that an “unfortunate incident involving the breach of patient privacy and confidentiality,” had occurred.

“However, we are unable to comment publicly on matters that involve the privacy and confidentiality of our patients or employees,” the statement says.

“When Health PEI is notified of a potential incident we respond swiftly, investigate thoroughly, and take appropriate action to ensure similar incidences do not happen again.”

Aylward said while the province’s privacy commissioner has ordered the government to release further information in 40 days, Islanders deserve answers now.

He said there are still unresolved questions based on the media report, which said the government documents provided did not connect an employee who was fired over the incident with taking the photo of the deceased resident.

“So if it doesn’t connect the person who was fired then who was taking the pictures?” asks Aylward.

“I want some kind of assurance here that the policies are being adhered to and that any other infractions that may have occurred have been dealt with accordingly.”

Aylward said he believes a full audit needs to be done regarding the operation of long term care homes in the province.

The Canadian Press