An aggressive former Riverview patient transferred to Vancouver General Hospital has lashed out at two or three health care workers in the last year, leaving one employee not yet able to return to work.
The Hospital Employees’ Union, which represents one of the injured workers, argues the incidents are proof “a small number” of very challenging patients were moved from the former mental health institution to local hospitals without proper plans in place.
“One of our members was assaulted by this patient about a week and a half ago at VGH and our understanding is that this wasn’t the first incident involving this patient,” said HEU communications director Mike Old.
“The decision to close Riverview hospital without plans in place to care for the small number of individuals whose behaviour can put the health of our members at risk is a concern to us.”
Dr. Soma Ganesan, a medical director of psychiatry with Vancouver Coastal Health, said health authorities did create treatment plans for all patients transferred out of Riverview to live in hospitals closer to their families.
This patient, however, was prone to unpredictable outbursts while at Riverview, and that behaviour has continued since the transfer, resulting in two or three health care workers being injured without warning.
“There was an unpredictable outburst of aggression against staff … it happened not just once but a couple of times,” Ganesan said of the patient, who was transferred out of Riverview in June or July of 2011.
“Some workers suffered minor injury, who were able to return to work. I believe that one person is still on sick leave.”
Ganesan had been physician leader at Riverview until April 2011, when he moved to VCH because there were too few patients left in the historic Coquitlam institution.
He called this situation very rare, noting he was aware of “two or three” other former Riverview patients in Vancouver Coastal Health with similar unpredictable tendencies of outbursts.
Ganesan said the health authority has also increased security, and is looking at bringing in experts to train staff to better predict when such outbursts may occur.
“Whether we are able to completely overcome (similar incidents), this is our wish. But I think that hopefully with better treatment and better preparation, we can minimize that,” he said.
But NDP deputy health critic Doug Routley said former Riverview patients are housed in hospitals with inadequate support, which he claimed was increasing costs and negatively affecting health care workers.
“I think it is pretty clear that there were inadequate transfer plans in place,” said Routley (Nanaimo-North Cowichan). “The NDP has been calling for the provincial government to maintain the Riverview land for some type of mental health facility.”
In an email to The Vancouver Sun, the health ministry said it worked with health authorities to provide “appropriate supports, treatment and services” for former Riverview patients in facilities across B.C.
“No patient left Riverview Hospital without a designated bed in a community facility and a care plan outlining their individual needs,” the email said.
“These community-based residential settings are offering former Riverview patients better living environments, which in many cases are closer to their home communities and regions. ”
But the HEU’s Old insisted the most challenged Riverview patients have “fallen through the cracks.
“From the perspective of worker health and safety, there wasn’t a very good plan,” he said.
A Vancouver Coastal Health representative said several steps were taken to prepare for the Riverview patient transfers, including:
–Violence training for all staff
–Safety drills specific to specialized mental health care
–Staff carrying and using personal alarm systems;
–Staff taking a training program provided by Riverview staff to support the transitions.
About 80 per cent of physicians and one third of staff in the specialized mental health program came from Riverview Hospital.
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