Auditor general releases audit on access to addiction and mental health services
FREDERICTON (GNB) – Auditor General Paul Martin tabled a report in the legislative assembly today that includes an audit of the Department of Health’s responsibility to ensure timely access to addiction and mental health services.
“There are numerous improvements required pertaining to the development of key performance indicators, monitoring and reporting on access wait times, and an updated budgeting mechanism,” said Martin.
Martin concluded that the department lacks mechanisms to ensure timely access to addiction and mental health services; that performance measures, particularly those indicating wait times between referral and assessment, are inadequate; and that wait times for treatment often exceed the department’s established performance measures.
The Mental Health Services Advisory Committee, enacted by legislation, has not met since 2018.
The audit found that the budget for addiction and mental health services is not based on current needs assessments and the department does not monitor how the budget is used within the regional health authorities.
“The findings underscore the need for the Department of Health to implement effective measures to ensure timely access to addiction and mental health services in New Brunswick,” said Martin. “Addressing these recommendations will be crucial to ensuring that New Brunswickers receive the timely and adequate mental health support they need.”
The auditor general provided eight recommendations to the Department of Health. The report is available online.
Auditor general identifies issues with child death reviews
FREDERICTON (GNB) – Auditor General Paul Martin tabled a report in the legislative assembly today that included an audit on the child death investigation, inquest and review process.
The Department Justice and Public Safety is responsible for overseeing the process, and, according to Martin, recent public reporting by the Child Death Review Committee has been limited.
“The loss of a child is a profound tragedy and impacts families and communities,” said Martin. “In the wake of such an event, it is crucial that every aspect of the investigation, inquest and subsequent Child Death Review Committee review is conducted with the utmost diligence and integrity.”
The audit highlighted risk areas, including a lack of legislative compliance.
Key specific findings concluded that investigations, inquests and reviews are not always completed in in a timely manner and, according to Martin’s report, “of great concern is that Child Death Review Committee recommendations made to mitigate future risks of child deaths are not being shared with relevant departments, organizations or agencies.”
The auditor general made 28 recommendations to the Department of Justice and Public Safety. The report is available online.
Auditor general reports continued fiscal progress for province, issues clean audit opinion
FREDERICTON (GNB) – Auditor General Paul Martin tabled a report today in the legislative assembly on his office’s financial statement audit of the provincial government for the 2023-24 fiscal year and other key findings.
“The past several years, we have seen the province’s financial condition continue to improve,” said Martin.
The province’s surplus of $501 million represents the seventh consecutive surplus, and net debt is at its lowest point since 2015 at $11.8 billion. Martin said this year’s surplus, while down from last year, was partly driven by personal income tax, corporate income tax and harmonized sales tax revenues. However, provincial tax revenues have decreased by $133 million dollars from the previous year.
The report includes chapters on the province’s financial condition and findings from financial audits of the government and its Crown agencies.
“I am pleased to report we issued unqualified, or clean, audit opinion on the province’s financial statements,” said Martin.
All chapters on the financial audit can be found in Volume III of the 2024 auditor general’s report, which is available online.
Auditor general concludes hotel accommodations policy changes lacked adequate financial analysis
FREDERICTON (GNB) – Auditor General Paul Martin tabled a report in the legislative assembly today that includes an audit of the government’s hotel accommodations policy.
Martin concluded there was no documented business case to support the decision to discontinue participation in the federal government’s accommodations directory program, which, he said, could have saved the provincial government more than $632,000 per year.
The policy change was not approved by the Treasury Board, and the current policy could be misleading for employees by directing them to continue using government hotel rates, for which they may no longer be eligible.
The audit, covering the period from Jan. 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, brought to light hotel expenses as high as $997 per night for one employee to stay in Barcelona.
“The audit concluded that the Department of Finance and Treasury Board’s updated hotel accommodations policy for employee hotel expenses does not reflect prudent fiscal management, nor was due consideration taken prior to the change,” said Martin.
The auditor general provided three recommendations to the Department of Finance and Treasury Board. The report is available online.
Auditor general’s report finds 73 per cent implementation rate of recent recommendations
FREDERICTON (GNB) – In his report tabled today at the legislative assembly, Auditor General Paul Martin examined the implementation rates of recommendations made from 2020 to 2022.
“Providing followup on prior years’ audit recommendations provides an important tool to enable the public accounts committee and New Brunswickers to hold departments accountable,” said Martin.
The auditor general found only 57 per cent of the recommendations from 2020 had been implemented; the Department of Natural Resources and Energy Development implemented 100 per cent of the recommendations pertaining to timber royalties, however NB Power implemented neither of two recommendations pertaining to its debt challenges.
Martin said he was extremely pleased to see that departments implemented all of the 2021 audit recommendations.
Government departments and agencies implemented 71 per cent of his audit recommendations made in 2022.
“Ongoing followup will continue to ensure recommendations are being adopted,” said Martin.
The followup audit report is available online.
Auditor general finds lack of departmental oversight for pupil transportation
FREDERICTON (GNB) – Auditor General Paul Martin tabled a report today in the legislative assembly that includes an audit of pupil transportation.
The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development establishes policies and guidelines for pupil transportation, and Martin concluded the department lacks oversight to ensure compliance with key requirements.
The audit found several instances of non-compliance with legislation and policy.
“Of utmost concern to us, is that despite our office’s extensive audit of pupil transportation in 2001, several gaps in levels of compliance remain,” said Martin. “We see little improvement in the area of departmental monitoring and oversight.”
These gaps include drivers not meeting appropriate licensing and training requirements and the department failing to ensure compliance with vehicle maintenance schedules.
Martin said the key areas of concern related to insufficient evidence of required licensing for bus drivers, criminal record checks, driver training and bus maintenance. The audit noted 63 buses with overdue motor vehicle inspections.
The audit also found that few strategies were in place to recruit and retain bus drivers.
The auditor general made a total of 12 recommendations to the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. The report is available online.
Auditor general reports travel nurse contracts posed undue risk to province
FREDERICTON (GNB) – Auditor General Paul Martin tabled a report today in the legislative assembly, highlighting concerns related to travel nurse contracts within the Department of Social Development, Horizon Health Network and Vitalité Health Network.
Between Jan. 1, 2022, and Feb. 29, 2024, the government spent over $173 million on travel nurses.
“Our audit confirmed that the contracts with private nursing agencies were not reflective of best practices and did not demonstrate value for money,” said Martin.
The issues noted in the audit included a lack of data-driven decision-making, no vendor-selection processes, and no proper contract development, management or oversight.
Martin said Vitalité Health Network did not provide his office with requested information, contravening the Auditor General Act.
“It is critical that government organizations understand the authority of the auditor general’s office and comply with the Auditor General Act,” said Martin.
At the time of the audit, Vitalité had spent over $123 million on the use of contracted health-care workers, with over $93 million going to Canadian Health Labs.
Martin said the pricing structure varied greatly between service providers, however Canadian Health Labs charged significantly more than the others to provide registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and personal support workers.
“While Vitalité cited the requirement for the provision of French-language services as the reason for the large contracts with Canadian Health Labs, we found that the contract only required limited French-language services in some hospitals,” said Martin.
The auditor general noted that Social Development and Horizon focused on the short-term use of travel nurses. This resulted in total spending of almost $48 million for Horizon. While guidelines were in place for vendor selection, there were no selection criteria or scoring matrixes to support the awarding of contracts.
Martin credited Horizon for its processes to ensure services paid for had been received, but noted inadequate support for payment of travel expenses.
He said the largest contract signed by Social Development was written by the contractor and lacked adequate legal review, resulting in undue risk to the province.
“We have serious concerns pertaining to the lack of oversight for invoices paid by the Department of Social Development,” said Martin.
The auditor general made a total of 34 recommendations to the Department of Social Development, Horizon Health Network and Vitalité Health Network. The report is available online.
Auditor general finds mechanisms are not in place to allow for use of Mental Health Trust Fund
FREDERICTON (GNB) – Auditor General Paul Martin tabled a report today in the legislative assembly that includes an audit of the Mental Health Trust Fund.
The audit found that, while the Department of Finance and Treasury Board has effectively fulfilled its obligations pertaining to the trust, the Department of Health has not.
“We found the Department of Health did not have the mechanisms in place to allow for timely use of the trust, as intended,” said Martin.
The trust fund was established in 1977 from a bequest made to the Province of New Brunswick and designated for specific treatment of deserving New Brunswickers.
The Department of Health is to draw funds for treatment, with the responsibility to determine which cases are most deserving based on an individual’s mental health condition and financial resources. The Department of Finance and Treasury Board is responsible for administration of the trust. As of March 31, 2023, the trust’s value was $1,635,256.
The audit found that Department of Health officials had little knowledge of the trust and its history. Martin concluded that the department has not made sufficient effort to give effect to the terms of the Mental Health Trust Fund and fulfil the donor’s wishes.
The auditor general made one recommendation to the Department of Health. The report is available online.