Pubdate: Thu, 29 Jan 2015
Source: London Free Press (CN ON)
Copyright: 2015 The London Free Press
Contact: http://www.lfpress.com/letters
Website: http://www.lfpress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/243
Author: Jonathan Sher
Page: A1

PSYCH WARD A HOTBED OF SMUGGLING

Victoria Hospital Crisis: Day Passes Were Scrapped and Visiting Hours 
Slashed to Stem the Flow

London's Victoria Hospital scrapped day passes and slashed visiting 
hours to stem the flow of illegal drugs into a psychiatric ward 
already in crisis from overcrowding and violence, The Free Press has learned.

The flow of drugs had been a long-standing challenge in a ward where 
a significant minority of mentally ill patients also battle 
addiction. Patients would get drugs from visitors or while out on a day pass.

But that flow had to stop in a ward whose staff and patients had 
grown concerned for their own safety, hospital officials said 
Wednesday after a hospital board member questioned at a board meeting 
why unfettered visiting hours had been reduced to just four hours a day.

"A number of people who come in were bringing in contraband," said 
Laurie Gould, an executive vice-president who oversees patient care 
at London hospitals.

The crisis in the psychiatric ward peaked two weeks ago when staff 
enacted emergency measures that also included more security. But the 
debate about what to do about overcrowded London hospitals continued 
full bore this week, from the board room of London Health Sciences 
Centre (LHSC) to the Grand Ballroom of Hilton London, where 
provincial politicians heard submissions about their coming budget, 
including from hospital nurses in London.

In the past three years, LHSC has cut 150,000 hours of care from 
registered nurses, and the shortage that resulted has reached a 
critical stage, said James Murray, a registered nurse and president 
of a bargaining unit of the Ontario Nurses' Association that 
represents 3,600 nurses in London.

"It's not uncommon for mental health patients to wait three or four 
days in the emergency department," he told the provincial committee.

Nurses have suffered significant injuries from violence in the 
psychiatric ward, with the number of reported incidents rising 
20-fold last year.

"The safety of our patients and nurses is at risk," Murray said.

The level of violence seems unprecedented, said Teresa Armstrong, a 
New Democrat MPP representing London-Fanshawe. "I can't recall it 
ever being this (bad)," she said outside the meeting. "We can't have 
the most vulnerable people in society taking the brunt of these 
(hospital) cuts."

The crisis in London is typical of the rest of the province, said Vic 
Fedeli, a Conservative MPP from Nipissing. North Bay, Sault Ste. 
Marie and Sudbury are bracing to cut staff, including nurses, he said.

"We hear similar stories in each community."

Asked about the criticism, Health Ministry officials emailed a 
statement, defending their record and new way of funding based on the 
number and type of patients expected to need care - not simply basing 
funding on what each hospital was given the previous year.

"This will further support quality, efficiency and effectiveness in 
the health care system," a ministry spokesperson wrote. "Funding 
reform is a key component to delivering better quality care and 
maintaining the sustainability of Ontario's universal public health 
care system."

The ministry has an ally in LHSC's chief executive, Murray 
Glendining, who told board members they shouldn't expect more cash 
the coming fiscal year that starts in April than what was provided 
for the current year. "It's going to be a flat year for the 
hospitals," he said. "The future is not about more money in the 
(hospital) system."

The crisis in the psychiatric ward is "the canary in the coal mine," 
he said, an indication that those with mental illness or addiction 
aren't finding the supports they need in the community, such as 
supportive housing.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom