Bombshell AG report finds NLHS overspent millions on agency nurses in N.L.

Another bombshell study from Newfoundland and Labrador's auditor general found the province's wellness authorization hired bureau nurses astatine a frivolous gait without due fiscal oregon credential oversight.

The study besides shows millions of dollars of ineligible expenses being paid and instances of imaginable fraud.

Denise Hanrahan said Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services spent implicit $132 cardinal connected bureau nurses to capable gaps successful the health-care strategy successful 2024, a monolithic increase from conscionable $18 cardinal spent successful 2022.

In total, the wellness authorization has paid retired implicit $241 cardinal to 11 agencies since 2022.

According to Hanrahan's report, the wellness authority's existent spending means that the mean bureau caregiver is costing it implicit $400,000 annually. By comparison, a mid-career caregiver already successful the provincial health-care strategy costs astir $118,000.

"At the commencement of this audit, I expected the wellness authorization to negociate those contracts appropriately," she said.

"To accidental our audit recovered the other of that is an understatement. The heath authorization did not travel their ain processes successful the procurement of bureau nursing services, oregon adjacent champion practice."

Hanrahan said a illustration size of 84 invoices showed implicit $4 cardinal successful overspending, including instances wherever non-reimbursable expenses were paid. There were besides incidences of overtime being paid retired with nary impervious it was really worked.

She said the wellness authorization besides accepted connection successful its contracts with nursing agencies that was often unfavourable, and that determination was small grounds of credibility checks erstwhile negotiating with agencies. Those contracts were often signed utilizing exigency exemptions, alternatively than open, nationalist bidding.

"The vague declaration connection meant wealth was besides wasted connected different charges that should ne'er person been paid. In my opinion, it shows a implicit deficiency of respect for nationalist funds," she said.

Hanrahan pointed to a specific illustration where NLHS signed a $28-million declaration with a nursing bureau successful 2022 that had little than 2 years of experience, calling it "simply not acceptable."

Those who correspond registered nurses already successful the province's health-care strategy archetypal made calls for Hanrahan to analyse bureau caregiver spending successful aboriginal 2024. At the time, it was revealed that the wellness authorization spent $35.6 cardinal connected bureau nurses from April to August 2023.

WATCH | 'The wellness authorization did not travel their ain processes,' says the auditor general:

Hanrahan said astir the aforesaid magnitude had been spent connected bureau nurses betwixt January and March 2025, and questioned the spending fixed reporting from the wellness authorization successful February that the usage of bureau nurses had dropped by 42 per cent from its highest point.

"To me, it's disingenuous to accidental you person astir a 50 per cent simplification successful question nurses, and that's caput number ... but you're spending the aforesaid amount."

The wellness authorization besides offered bureau nurses jobs successful the nationalist system, on with idiosyncratic rental properties for the idiosyncratic payment of managers.

In her report, Hanrahan recovered 49 wellness authorization unit violated struggle of involvement rules by entering into 53 lease agreements. However, unit are not required to motion a struggle of involvement statement oregon a codification of conduct, she added.

A full of $1.9 cardinal was paid successful rent to those employees astatine a 90 per cent premium.

Electric conveyance spending could beryllium fraudulent

The study besides outlines a bid of payments to the aforesaid institution that NLHS signed the $28-million declaration with — referred to arsenic Agency A — for the rental of electrical vehicles.

"Despite rejection of a connection from Agency A by the cardinal portion successful March 2023, Agency A continued to proviso its nurses with electrical vehicles, arsenic proposed," the 56-page study reads.

The bureau submitted 60 invoices to the wellness authority, totalling $546,657.

The study said the signifier showed "strong indications of imaginable billing fraud" as outgo sizes increased, and included over $91,000 for 8 weeks of rentals for nurses who did not look to person ever been in Newfoundland and Labrador.

"For us, from a fraud perspective, it's a batch of times however that happens, right? You effort a small bit, you effort immoderate more, you support going," Hanrahan said.

"It conscionable shows the value of making definite erstwhile idiosyncratic makes a determination to walk 1 dollar of nationalist money, it's the close happening to pay."

Hanrahan has served arsenic Newfoundland and Labrador's auditor wide for 4 years, and called this audit a important one — portion besides voicing vexation implicit having to critique akin mistakes crossed her audits.

"I deliberation my vexation is starting to amusement with respect to repetitive issues that are solvable," she said.

"I deliberation it's wide absorption of processes, of administration. Nothing successful this audit dealt with care.... Knowing that idiosyncratic paid an invoice utilizing nationalist money, and didn't person the accusation to corroborate what was connected that invoice, makes nary sense."

Work underway: NLHS

The study offers 15 recommendations, which Hanrahan said the wellness authorization has accepted.

NLHS CEO Pat Parfrey said enactment to bring them successful has already begun. He said the wellness authorization already planned to standardize its 17 existent bureau nursing contracts into 1 agreement, portion moving to make an bureau caregiver simplification program with a absorption connected value, safety, quality, recruitment and retention.

"What happened successful COVID is the cardinal piece. We needed bureau nurses and accelerated arsenic imaginable and immediately, due to the fact that radical were dying," Parfrey told reporters.

"I personally deliberation that however we're going guardant astatine the contiguous infinitesimal is really good, and we person a program successful however we spell forward."

Another proposal involves the wellness authorization completing a broad audit of each amounts paid to Agency A, and retrieve arsenic overmuch arsenic it can.

Debbie Molloy, NLHS vice-president of quality resources, said the wellness authorization hasn't worked with Agency A since contracts were renewed successful April, and respective of the contracts with Agency A were ended early.

"If there's really fraud there, we volition travel done connected it. And we bash person to bash a deeper dive into the assorted invoices that were submitted, to really spot however they evolved," Parfrey added.

Speaking connected the rental agreements betwixt bureau nurses and registered nurses, Parfrey said registered nurses won't look discipline.

"I don't deliberation determination was badness done. We needed to get leased accommodation for these nurses coming into the province, and we needed to get the accommodation successful assorted places," helium said.

"Much of what the auditor wide is requesting, we've already instituted. And we hold with her."

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