Ontario long-term-care homes urged to close five IPAC gaps before respiratory season

Infection Shield Consulting is calling on Ontario long-term-care leaders to use the remaining pre-season weeks to verify that infection prevention and control systems work on every shift before fall respiratory-virus activity rises. The advisory points to five readiness gaps tied to surveillance, supplies, staff competency, outbreak response and governance.

Why it matters: - Ontario long-term-care homes face higher risk when respiratory-virus activity rises, especially if infection prevention and control processes do not work consistently on evenings, nights and weekends. - Public Health Ontario reported the 2025-26 influenza season began early and was intense, with influenza test positivity above 5% in mid-November and a peak of 35.7% in mid-December. - Ontario regulation already requires infectious-disease surveillance, auditing of IPAC practices, an interdisciplinary IPAC team and immediate action when symptoms of infection are identified.

What happened: - Infection Shield Consulting urged Ontario long-term-care leaders to test whether infection prevention and control systems are operational before respiratory season intensifies. - The guidance focuses on five readiness gaps that should be checked now rather than after virus indicators rise. - Founder and President Kamyab Ghatan said readiness is not a binder review and should be tested while there is still time to fix gaps.

The details: - Surveillance and escalation should be verified so staff can recognize changes, document symptoms completely, start appropriate precautions, notify clinical and IPAC leadership and escalate to public health under current direction. - Point-of-care readiness should include PPE, hand-hygiene products, disinfectants and specimen supplies that are available, unexpired, correctly placed and used properly. - Weekend and after-hours replenishment should be checked, not just central inventory. - Staff competency should be validated through direct observation and coaching, not only education completion. - Observations should cover hand hygiene, point-of-care risk assessment, PPE selection and removal, additional precautions and cleaning of shared equipment. - An outbreak plan should be tested with a short drill that confirms who starts the line list, who contacts public health, who activates enhanced measures, who communicates with staff and families, and how staffing and testing supplies are coordinated. - Governance should use a structured organizational risk assessment, assign each gap to an owner and deadline, and re-audit corrective actions. - Findings should remain visible to leadership until closure is verified.

Between the lines: - The advisory suggests many homes may have written plans that look complete but still fail in real-world operations. - The emphasis on direct observation, weekend coverage and drills reflects a shift from policy compliance to bedside execution. - That matters because respiratory-season failures often emerge first in routine workflows, not in formal documentation.

What's next: - Infection Shield Consulting says long-term-care homes can request a respiratory-season readiness consultation that combines leadership and program review with focused observations of surveillance, hand hygiene, PPE, environmental practices and outbreak workflows. - The review produces a prioritized action plan for implementation and follow-up. - Ontario leaders still have pre-season time to correct gaps before respiratory-virus activity increases. - More information is available in the company's consultation page.