Health Ministry orders outside review of security staff training and safety in Sask. hospitals
Metal detectors in emergency departments and other safety measures coming, health authority says
The Saskatchewan Health Authority says new metal detectors in Saskatoon and Regina hospitals are already showing results.
On Thursday, health authority CEO Andrew Will and Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill announced an independent review of how staff and patients are protected in hospitals and other health-care facilities.
Will said the health authority installed metal detectors at emergency departments in St. Paul’s Hospital and Saskatoon City Hospital on Jan. 19, and at Regina General Hospital and Pasqua Hospital emergency departments on Jan. 20.
"Even in the first few days of operation we have confiscated knives, and we’ve also seen that it’s had a deterrent effect as well," Will told media on Thursday.
"People who may have weapons see the metal detector and then turn and know they can’t come in … so it’s a strong deterrent."
The review will look at current safety and security policies and make recommendations to improve safety at Saskatchewan Health Authority facilities across the province. The health authority requested the system-wide review, which will be done by an independent third party selected by the Health Ministry.
In recent months, health-care workers and families of patients have pressed the province to boost safety measures in hospitals and training for security officers in the aftermath of incidents involving weapons at St. Paul’s Hospital, as well as a patient’s death after a physical struggle with security staff at Royal University Hospital.
"Your government has heard you, and this review will ensure your perspectives are carefully considered as we work to create a safer health-care environment for everyone," Cockrill said.
"We are seeing increasing frequency and complexity of hospital safety challenges. While some steps were already underway to address these concerns, we see the need for a more comprehensive, system-wide review."
'Why did it take so long?': NDP
The Saskatchewan NDP says the Opposition party supports adding metal detectors in hospitals and the launch of the independent review.
But NDP MLA Nathaniel Teed told CBC that those initiatives are things front-line workers have been advocating for.
The Saskatchewan Party government needs to listen to those workers, who have "been raising the alarm bells for months, and they would have said we need to look at this seriously," Teed said.
He noted that weapons in hospitals have been an issue staff have been flagging for some time.
"Why did it take so long? Why did it take 200 health-care workers writing an open letter to the minister and the SHA, proceeded by another letter of 400 health-care workers at another emergency room, to finally get the minister and the SHA to act?" said Teed.
He said he's concerned that no start date for the review has been set, and that there are no details on exactly what it will entail.
"I would really like to see a commitment to making that review public. I'd like to see a commitment to timelines, because we need a big picture."
Teed said front-line staff should be the ones consulted during the review about changes they'd like to see in order to have a safer working environment.
51 positions to fill
The Saskatchewan Health Authority said it plans to fill 51 full-time equivalent positions to handle the extra security work and boost the ranks of the 275 security staff it already employs. Victoria Hospital in Prince Albert will also bring in an Indigenous liaison.
Cockrill said it’s "disturbing" to see weapons confiscated at emergency departments.
"I can’t think of a situation where bringing a weapon into a health-care facility is going to improve my care experience," he said. "There’s no need for these weapons to be in our health-care facilities."
The review will look at how Protective Services security staff employed by the health authority operate in hospitals, find ways to improve training and resources for security staff and strengthen partnerships with Indigenous organizations.
In the immediate future, the health authority is installing metal detectors at emergency department entrances in some cities, including Saskatoon, Regina, North Battleford and Prince Albert.
In November, Saskatoon police arrested a man who brought knives and a gun into St. Paul’s Hospital and threatened staff, prompting the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses to call for metal detectors in all hospitals.
The health authority is also looking to contract third-party security companies for facilities in La Loche, Shellbrook, Swift Current, Moose Jaw, Weyburn, Nipawin, Melfort and Kamsack.
In Saskatoon, city police are investigating the death of a cancer patient at Royal University Hospital after an altercation with security. Police have said security was called to the patient's room after someone reported seeing a firearm there, but his family says it was a pink plastic cigarette case shaped like a gun.
In Prince Albert, an investigation is looking into the circumstances leading to an intoxicated man being left lying in the snow last month outside Victoria Hospital. Video footage showed three security officers pushing him outside in a wheelchair and leaving him there.
Union concerns
Unions representing Saskatchewan health-care workers say their members are worried about violence and weapons in hospitals — and while metal detectors are a start, other measures are needed to address the issue.
People may now be asked to pass through the metal detectors before accessing emergency services entering emergency rooms in those cities.
"From my perspective, it’s long overdue," Bashir Jalloh, the president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 5430, told CBC.
"We have seen the increase in violence on health-care workers. We have been saying this for many years to our employers, but we see that they are finally listening to the voice of reasoning."
The pilot program at Royal University Hospital helped detect, and confiscate, items including "machetes, general tools, gang-related things such as brass knuckles," said Lisa Zunti, the president of the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU.
Jalloh said beyond the metal detectors, CUPE 5430 wants to see a plan to address violent outbursts toward staff.
"People have been spit on, people have been kicked," Jalloh said. "There is sexual harassment that is being done against our members."
Emergency rooms have become more violent due to people who are in mental crises going to those facilities, because of a lack of detox centres and other resources, Jalloh said.
Other solutions include focusing on hiring and retaining front-line staff to make ERs more efficient, he said.
"The shortage of health-care workers at the back end … is going to increase the number of times you have to wait [in the emergency room] to get your services," Jalloh said.
"And the longer you are waiting, people become frustrated … and who are they going to take that [out] on?"
Bryce Boynton, the president of the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses, said in a statement that metal detectors at select entrances "are not a comprehensive safety plan."
His union wants to see more security staff, cameras throughout ERs, and metal detectors at all entrances.
Hospitals also need "safe staffing levels so nurses are not left alone with violent patients," along with "charting systems to flag violent behaviour," he wrote.
Without "action on emergency department overcrowding, health-care workers remain at risk," Boynton's statement said.
The unions also say they’re disappointed they weren’t consulted about the implementation of metal detectors, which they found out about through media reports.
There are also still unknowns, such as who will operate the metal detectors and why they’re only being installed in emergency departments.
"There’s many other areas of buildings that you can go into that have no metal detectors as of yet," SEIU's Zunti said.
Support needed for rural hospitals
The Saskatchewan Government and General Employees' Union, which represents workers in northern hospitals, said metal detectors may not be the answer, but its members do need some solution to frequent physical assaults at health-care facilities.
"We have nobody to call," said SGEU president Tracey Sauer.
"We don’t have panic buttons that you can push. We don’t have policing services, we don’t have security services. Seldom do we even have RCMP in those areas."
Sauer said violence in hospitals where her members work is getting to a dangerous level, especially in a predominantly women-led field. She said at times, the RCMP take hours to respond to distress calls in hospitals.
Sauer said she ’d like the health authority to sit down with the union and workers in northern hospitals to see what changes they need in their hospitals.
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With files from Katie Swyers