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Audit highlights areas for improvement
Recently, the Ontario Internal Audit Division of the Ministry of Finance released a report examining our procurement and administrative policies. The CCO board, with the support of senior management, invited the review to ensure our policies adhere to the highest standards and identify opportunities for improvement. The audit followed our own efforts that we started twelve months ago to tighten up our internal controls, documentation management and evaluation of contracts. As a result, most of the audit findings have to do with past rather than current practice.
We take the recommendations for improvement very seriously and have taken concrete steps to continue to improve our administrative processes and internal controls. Today, we have:
- A new procurement policy that aligns with the new Management Board directives.
- Controls in place that restrict reimbursement of non-eligible expenses.
- An organization-wide independent procurement office which is separate from business units and is now fully operational.
- An organization-wide document management system that will improve our file management capacity and internal controls.
- An ongoing review of, and updates to our human resources policies and procedures.
Cancer Care Ontario has a proven track record of improving access and quality of care for cancer patients throughout the province, with an explicit public plan and regular public reporting. We are known best for our work in decreasing wait times for patients and our screening initiatives such as the Ontario Breast Screening Program. With our partners we established Canada’s first organized colorectal screening program, ColonCancerCheck, founded new and expanded cancer centres and increased access to innovations such as Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy.
In short, over the last five years, we have delivered value for money and Ontarians can plainly see where we have made progress and where more work is needed in cancer care. To build upon our track record of accountability, we have invited the auditors back in one year’s time for a second review to ensure we have made all possible administrative improvements.
We remain committed to ensuring better cancer services every step of the way, from prevention and screening to treatment and end-of-life care. We will do this by continuing to work with our partners in the community throughout the province. And, we will continue to communicate in a way that is open and transparent, so we can retain the trust and confidence we share with cancer patients, their families and the Ontario public.
The complete Cancer Care Ontario internal audit report and our response for addressing the recommendations can be found on our website.
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