Nova Scotia adds addiction services to online wait times list

An article published in today's edition of The Chronicle Herald:

By The Canadian Press

Nova Scotians struggling with addiction can now seek information on how long they might have to wait for help.

The Nova Scotia government has posted information on wait times online for programs including adult community-based services and detox centres.

The government says data will be updated four times a year.

Wait Times

CHOICES Adolescent Services

Community Based Services

Structured Treatment

Withdrawal Management

Also see:

Wait Times for Addiction Services Published

Nurse: MD’s note didn’t look official

An article published in today's edition of The Chronicle Herald:

No psychiatric exam had been set up for Hyde; man didn’t show acute symptoms, woman says

By Michael MacDonald, The Canadian Press

The nurse who admitted a man to a Nova Scotia jail where he later died knew about a doctor’s note requiring the inmate to receive a psychiatric exam, but the nurse told an inquiry Wednesday she didn’t consider it an official physician’s order.

Sandra McLeod was the nurse in charge at the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility [pictured] when Howard Hyde — under arrest for an alleged assault — was dropped off there by deputy sheriffs on Nov. 21, 2007.

Hyde, a 45-year-old musician with a long history of mental illness and run-ins with the law, died the next morning as he struggled with guards, yelling there were "demons" in the jail.

McLeod told the inquiry she knew Hyde had not refilled his prescription for an anti-psychotic drug for about four months, and that he had been Tasered by police after his arrest and later sent to a hospital for treatment.

As well, McLeod confirmed she had read a handwritten note on Hyde’s health information transfer form, written by Dr. Janet MacIntyre, that said he had to be returned to hospital if he did not receive a court-ordered psychiatric assessment.

McLeod testified that when she read the note from the emergency room doctor, she called the Mentally Ill Offender Unit to determine if they were expecting Hyde for a court-ordered psychiatric assessment. But she was told nothing had been scheduled.

The form also said Hyde required ongoing treatment for schizophrenia and psychosis. As well, it said he had demonstrated aggression towards others and the potential to hurt himself.

The nurse said she saw no reason to send Hyde back to the hospital because he wasn’t displaying any acute symptoms.

"He wasn’t disoriented, he wasn’t agitated, he wasn’t hallucinating and he was following direction," she testified during her second day in the witness box.

McLeod said MacIntyre’s note did not constitute a physician’s order because it was written on a form she was unfamiliar with and lacked instructions on a specific time and place for an appointment.

"This isn’t the same kind of form that we follow through on," she said.

Still, McLeod said she asked one of the jail’s support clerks, Maureen Walford, to contact the hospital to make sure Hyde had been medically cleared.

Walford, who also testified Wednesday, confirmed Hyde had been cleared and said she also asked the hospital about MacIntyre’s note.

Recalling the conversation, Walford told the inquiry: "(A hospital administrator) just said, "No, he doesn’t have to come back. I have nothing here.’ "

McLeod said she would have contacted an on-call doctor had Hyde started displaying psychotic behaviour.

She also testified that she was not made aware that Hyde had been given an anti-psychotic drug when he was at the hospital.

However, Hyde did not have any prescriptions with him when he arrived at the jail, which McLeod did not find unusual.

Hyde was placed in a health-care cell, which meant guards would check on him every 15 minutes, but McLeod confirmed the guards were not told to watch for anything unusual.

Most of the guards who have testified at the inquiry have said they had little or no training on how to deal with the mentally ill.

The inquiry, which began in July under the direction of provincial court Judge Anne Derrick, is trying to determine why Hyde didn’t get the psychiatric help he needed, and what can be done to prevent similar tragedies in the future.

Earlier in the inquiry, MacIntyre testified that she would not have discharged Hyde if she had known he would be sent to a jail cell rather than a psychiatric hospital. She said police had assured her Hyde would receive a court-ordered assessment.

The inquiry has also heard that the Halifax police officers working on Hyde’s case knew they did not have the authority to follow the doctor’s instructions once he entered the court system.

The deputy sheriffs escorting Hyde to court did not hand the health form to lawyers handling the case because legislation at the time forbade them from sharing such information with anyone but health-care providers, such as McLeod.

Bold plus italic emphasis is mine.

Watchdog questions RCMP’s Taser use

An article published in today's edition of The Chronicle Herald:

Caution urged when using stun guns on young people, mentally ill

By Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press

OTTAWA — The RCMP complaints commissioner says the Mounties should be more careful about using stun guns on young people and the mentally ill.

In a final report on RCMP Taser use last year, Paul Kennedy also says the force’s tracking and analysis of incidents still needs improvement.

The findings come 10 months after Kennedy, chairman of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP, called on the police force to rein in Taser use and better monitor how officers use the potent device.

In his report Monday, the RCMP watchdog said there has been commendable progress on his 22 recommendations to the force, "however, more needs to be done in order to alleviate many of the concerns repeatedly expressed by the commission."

To that end, the commission is working with the RCMP on member training, reporting and policy development "with the view to providing a more in-depth analysis of the RCMP’s progress on all of the recommendations."

Some of the commission’s figures, released in a preliminary report last week, show the Mounties were far less likely to fire their Tasers last year. Use dropped 30 per cent from a peak of 1,583 incidents in 2007.

The statistics suggest police officers were more cautious about firing the stun guns following a public furor.

A B.C. inquiry is probing the case of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski, who died in October 2007 after he was stunned five times with an RCMP Taser at the Vancouver airport.

The RCMP says it has limited Taser use to situations involving a threat to officer or public safety.

The new Mountie policy warns officers that Taser use carries a risk of death, particularly for agitated people.

But Kennedy says it’s too early to tell whether the changes will address the issues he’s outlined. "While the revised policy is a positive step forward, the commission remains concerned."

The report flags two specific groups — young people and the mentally ill.

"It is not that (Tasers) should never be used with these groups, but rather, that there should be a higher threshold for usage where these subjects are concerned. This higher threshold is not always observed."

It says the RCMP still appears to define "at-risk populations" as acutely agitated and delirious people and, before using the Taser, the force needs to consider those experiencing mental health crises or people who’ve taken large quantities of drugs or alcohol.

"This is problematic as there is a higher statistical likelihood that these persons will die in police custody and therefore any effort made to mitigate this outcome should be adopted by the RCMP."

The report also notes that while members reported that use of the Taser avoided the use of lethal force — that is, a conventional gun — in over half of the reports, "there is reason to be suspicious of this figure."

In many cases, the summaries of these Taser incidents "did not support the members’ statement" that lethal force would have been used if not for the Taser.

Finally, Kennedy said the RCMP has not fully addressed how it will tackle the issue of under-reporting by members who use stun guns — a problem identified in his previous report. And while the force has begun to share Taser usage reports with more people inside the force, it is not clear how the information is being incorporated into training.

The RCMP had no immediate comment on the report.

Hilary Homes, a human rights campaigner with Amnesty International Canada, says there is a lack of clarity about RCMP policy on Taser use.

"Until there is clear policy, and a demonstration that that clear policy is followed, there simply won’t be the confidence that the police would like to see in their own work."

‘While the revised policy is a positive step forward, the commission remains concerned.’

Also see:

News Release – CPC Chair Releases In-Depth Analysis of 2008 Conducted Energy Weapon (Taser) use by the RCMP

RCMP Use of the Conducted Energy Weapon (CEW): January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008 (March 31, 2009)

RCMP shocked 16 people five times or more last year