Hospital waits for mental health apprehensions too long: VicPD

Victoria's police chief is calling for change after officers recently had to wait seven hours at Royal Jubilee Hospital for a patient apprehended under the Mental Health Act to be transferred to health-care workers. 

At a news conference Friday, Chief Del Manak said wait times have been an ongoing issue that's "trending in the wrong direction."

Manak said the long wait times don't just tie up police resources — it is also distressing and stigmatizing for the person experiencing a mental health crisis to have to wait in a hospital alongside a uniformed officer. 

"I think the system kind of needs an overhaul. I think there's a recognition by everybody that that needs to happen," Manak said.

"But the area that impacts me as the police chief is allowing officers to be redeployed and also providing a better quality of care for individuals that we're apprehending on their worst moment on their worst day."

Manak explained that anyone apprehended under the Mental Health Act must remain under the custody of police until they're in care. 

One solution he proposed is to have some hospital security guards trained as special constables, which would give them the authority to take the apprehended person into custody until they're admitted. 

But that would require legislative changes to the B.C. Mental Health Act. 

"Having that designation is not an easy step," he said. 

Special constables were the norm in B.C. hospitals "many, many years ago," according to Manak, but those powers were taken away from hospital security after an incident with a patient. 

Recommendation under scrutiny

Jonny Morris, CEO for the B.C. division of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), praised Manak's call for better treatment for people experiencing a mental health crisis. 

Morris said it can be traumatizing for a person to sit in handcuffs next to an armed police officer. But he took issue with the idea of invoking hospital security guards with special constable status.

"I think this part of the recommendation is one that merits real scrutiny and real analysis as to what the best approach is here," he said. 

Morris pointed to the ongoing B.C. Coroner's inquest into the death of Paul Spencer is an example of what might go wrong. 

Spencer died shortly after being committed involuntarily to Royal Jubilee Hospital's Psychiatric Services, during which there was an altercation with security guards.  

However, the Ministry of Public Safety said in an emailed statement there is no plan to issue special provincial constable appointments to hospital security guards, but it is rolling out a digital public safety system designed to facilitate a better assessment of the person in crisis.

'Innovative models underway'

Morris's suggestions for improving wait times include eliminating the role of police in responding to mental health crises in the first place, like deploying CMHA's Peer Assisted Care Teams instead. 

"There are really innovative models underway to try to reduce the burden on police during a mental health crisis and help the person in distress," he said.

Other models found in Ontario, Australia and the U.K. have what Morris called a "safe bed" program where mental health patients are taken to a separate facility instead of an emergency room. 

"We've seen people in crisis report much better outcomes," he said.

"They feel like their experience care is better. They're not competing with car accidents or other kinds of health crises to get to mental health care more quickly." 

Mayor, Health Minister respond

Both Island Health and B.C.'s health minister say they are working with police to speed up the handover process between police and health-care workers.

At a news conference on Friday, Health Minister Adrian Dix said ensuring that people are safe and the law is applied appropriately can be tricky under the Mental Health Act. 

Dix said the province has been working closely with VicPD in the last two weeks. 

"We're already working with him to ... make improvements," he said. 

Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto expressed her support for Manak's concerns about officers being tied up for hours. Alto said this has been an issue for years in Victoria. 

"Clearly, it has an impact, and it's an impact that we all have to accommodate then by ensuring that we have other officers who are available for other responses," she said.