Yukon Ombudsman Diane McLeod-McKay is launching an investigation into the Department of Health and Social Services’ process for receiving and managing complaints about the Yukon government home care program.

She’s encouraging current and former home care clients, particularly those who have made a complaint about the program to Health and Social Services, to get in touch with her office to talk about their experience.

Already, McLeod-McKay told the Star Wednesday, “we’ve had a couple of calls.” But not all were within the scope of the investigation.

“What we’re actually investigating here is not the program itself, but the complaints process that’s used within the program,” she emphasized.

Her office recently received a complaint about the process, which spurred the investigation.

Similar concerns have been raised with the ombudsman’s office in the past, McLeod-McKay said, but for personal reasons, people didn’t move forward with a formal complaint.

“Then when this one came in, we thought because of the isolation people in home care have, this is ... their only real avenue to express their concerns and have them addressed appropriately,” she said of the department’s complaints process.

“So that’s why we decided that there’s a public interest issue ... at stake here.”

According to the Health and Social Services website, the home care program may serve those with acute, long-term, rehabilitative, and/or palliative care needs.

The number of Yukon government home care clients varied between 572 and 633 in 2017/18 (up until the end of February), according to Health and Social Services spokesperson Michelle Boleen.

Nearly 40 per cent of those clients were from outside of Whitehorse.

The budgeted cost for home care in 2018-19 is $8.3 million.

“The department takes all complaints seriously,” Boleen wrote today in an email to the Star.

Its formal complaints process for home care includes “working with the client and team leaders/supervisors to rectify the issue,” she said.

All complaints are formally documented and acted upon, according to Boleen. The department works to respond to urgent complaints within four hours, and non-urgent complaints within two days.

In conducting her investigation, McLeod-McKay will familiarize herself with the home care program and the policies and procedures that govern the complaints process, she explained.

She’ll look at applicable standards, talk to people involved, and collect any complainant stories.

Then, she’ll write a report, determine if there was indeed any unfairness, make recommendations to remedy that unfairness, and monitor their implementation.

Ombudsman complaint investigation reports are shared with the departments involved – in this case, Health and Social Services – but not with the public, though case summaries are now published on the ombudsman website throughout the year, she said.

A summary can also be published in the ombudsman’s annual report.

“Under the Ombudsman Act, the whole role of the ombudsman is a neutral arbiter, essentially. So we have a neutral role to play, we go in and we need to have free and frank discussions with staff and anyone who’s involved in the process,” McLeod-McKay said.

When it comes to making investigation reports publicly available, “the thinking is, it might prevent our ability to get the information that we need to do a thorough and proper investigation,” she explained.

The ombudsman’s recommendations are only that – non-binding recommendations.

“It’s an opinion, and they can take it or leave it, but of course they generally work with us to make sure that we’ve arrived at the right conclusions,” she said.

Boleen said the department has committed to “fully co-operate and work with the ombudsman.”

McLeod-McKay has asked home care clients to contact the office of the ombudsman at 667-8468 (or 1-800-661-0408 ext. 8468 toll-free) or in writing to “Office of the Ombudsman, Suite 201, 211 Hawkins Street, Whitehorse, Yukon, Y1A 1X3.”