Jones took her 24-year-old son to the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Center last month because he was depressed, manic and suicidal. CBC News is not naming Jones’ son, but his mother is speaking on his behalf while he recovers. When they got to the hospital, Jones said she told triage nurses that her son talked about killing himself by jumping off a building. “I assumed it would be straight [forward]Jones said in an interview. “Show the doctor and then send it to the psych team so he’s not sitting and waiting in a crowded waiting room.” It wasn’t like that. They sat in the waiting room for more than seven hours, Jones said, before her son asked her to go to the bathroom. Nova Scotia Health did not respond to questions about protocols surrounding unlocked doors at the hospital. (Robert Short/CBC) When he was out of his mother’s sight, he found an unlocked door and finally made his way to the roof. Security found Jones’ son, handcuffed him and put him in an interrogation room where he was held for several more hours. He didn’t see a psychiatrist until 18 hours after they first arrived at the hospital, Jones said. “I don’t know exactly why we had to wait so long… I could have lost my son and [so would have] his brothers and his father,” he said. “I don’t know how we would have recovered.”
Problem with the process
Jones, who has worked as a registered nurse since 1994, said she doesn’t blame the staff. Her problem, she said, is with the process. An emergency department physician assesses a patient experiencing a mental health crisis and then decides whether to see a crisis response clinician or a member of the psychiatric team, according to Nova Scotia Health. Jones said doctors are so busy that a nurse or other health professional should be able to make referrals to the psychiatric team to help people access care more quickly. “It’s bureaucratic and it’s detrimental to young people, older people, whoever, who have serious mental health challenges and come into the fold to wait all this time.”
Reduction of waiting time
An advocate for the Nova Scotia College of Social Workers agrees that doctors shouldn’t be the only ones who can assess people who come to hospitals with mental health issues. “They don’t need to be in control of everything,” N Siritsky said. “This model of mental health is based on this antiquated, physician-driven pharmaceutical concept.” Siritsky said allowing social workers, who are already in hospitals, to intervene as soon as a patient enters the hospital will ease the burden on doctors and reduce wait times. “Bringing in a social worker who can do some initial assessment, contribute to some of the treatment plans in a way that could help the provider when the provider finally arrives and reduce the amount of time the physician has to actually spend with the patient. ” they said. N Siritsky with the Nova Scotia College of Social Workers says there are too many barriers to accessing mental health care in this province. (CBC) “The social worker can provide some of the advice and the support and the resources not only to the person, but potentially to family members or friends who came with that person.” Siritsky said changes like this need to be part of a larger shift in mental health care delivery in Nova Scotia to a collaborative and proactive approach to patient care. The goal, Siritsky said, would be to prevent people struggling with mental health from ever needing to go to the hospital in the first place. A spokesperson for Nova Scotia Health said in an email that Mental Health and Addictions Urgent Care Services saw a 30 per cent increase in demand for services in 2020 and a 10 per cent increase in demand for non-emergency services.
Questions remain
Rachel Jones said she still does not understand why there was an unlocked door to the QEII emergency room. “This was almost an accident of great magnitude and I wonder if it has even been discussed there,” he said. “Are they looking at it? Are they reviewing it?” Nova Scotia Health did not respond to questions about the protocols surrounding unlocked doors at the hospital and whether they have made any changes since this incident. Jones said she’s not sure what she’ll do if her son experiences another mental health crisis. She said the experience has traumatized her son and left her anxious and angry. “I’ll always be afraid that he’s just going to feel like he’s a problem in society because of the way he handled it.” If you or someone you know is struggling, here’s where you can get help:
