An attack on a staff member at the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital (FPH) in Coquitlam, B.C. on June 13 was evidence of inadequate staff protection at the facility, according to a news release from the B.C. Government and Service Employees’ Union (BCGEU).
The assault occurred in the afternoon, when a patient who had just been released from long-term seclusion injured an employee. Colleagues could not restrain the assailant immediately because locked doors were blocking their access to the area, according to the release. The worker’s injury was severe enough to prompt a report to WorkSafeBC.
The union criticized the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA), which runs the FPH, for failing to equip the facility’s staff with sufficient resources and protection against violence. The hospital, informally known as Colony Farm, houses mentally ill patients who have been deemed not criminally responsible for their past actions and/or not fit for trial, including notorious child killer Allan Schoenborn.
“For months, we have been urging the PHSA to provide suitable protections for staff on par with similar hospitals across Canada, such as body armour, blocking pads and meal pass-through doors for those in seclusion,” BCGEU president Stephanie Smith said in a media statement.
“It is unacceptable to continue allowing healthcare workers to be exposed to potentially violent patients without such protections.”
A Global News story from June 15 quoted PHSA provincial executive director Angela Draude as saying that the FPH had been reviewing its safety protocols and that staff had been equipped with violence-prevention training and personal protective alarms. But a subsequent BCGEU release took issue with Draude’s claim that she hadn’t personally received a request from the union for protective equipment.
“The BCGEU raised the issue of body armour in a meeting with the Provincial Health Services Authority… and also argued against the decision to remove blocking pads for our members to use when approaching a violent client,” said Smith. “The fact that Ms. Draude was apparently not made aware of these issues speaks to the lack of oversight necessary to take protective steps.”
Dangerous conditions at the FPH led to a $171,000 fine last fall (COHSN, Oct. 18). According to the BCGEU, WorkSafeBC has issued 54 safety orders to the hospital and filed 102 inspection reports over the past five years.
Smith plans to call for improved safety measures for the FPH at the next PHSA board meeting, scheduled for June 29 in Vancouver. In addition, workplace violence is one of the issues being reviewed at the ongoing BCGEU 50th Constitutional Convention, also in Vancouver.