Unions representing Saskatchewan health-care workers say their members are worried about violence and weapons in hospitals — and while metal detectors are a start, other measures are needed to address the issue.
The Saskatchewan Health Authority said this week it plans to install metal detectors in emergency departments in both Saskatoon and Regina, following a pilot program at the joint emergency department entrance at Royal University Hospital and Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital in Saskatoon.
People may now be asked to pass through the metal detectors before accessing emergency services entering emergency rooms in those cities.
“From my perspective, it’s long overdue,” Bashir Jalloh, the president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 5430, told CBC.
“We have seen the increase in violence on health-care workers. We have been saying this for many years to our employers, but we see that they are finally listening to the voice of reasoning.”
The pilot program at Royal University Hospital helped detect, and confiscate, items including “machetes, general tools, gang-related things such as brass knuckles,” said Lisa Zunti, the president of the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU.
Jalloh said beyond the metal detectors, CUPE 5430 wants to see a plan to address violent outbursts toward staff.
“People have been spit on, people have been kicked,” Jalloh said. “There is sexual harassment that is being done against our members.”
Emergency rooms have become more violent due to people who are in mental crises going to those facilities, because of a lack of detox centres and other resources, Jalloh said.
Other solutions include focusing on hiring and retaining front-line staff to make ERs more efficient, he said.
“The shortage of health-care workers at the back end … is going to increase the number of times you have to wait [in the emergency room] to get your services,” said Jalloh.
“And the longer you are waiting, people become frustrated … and who are they going to take that [out] on?”
Bryce Boynton, the president of the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses, said in a statement that metal detectors at select entrances “are not a comprehensive safety plan.”
His union wants to see more security staff, cameras throughout ERs, and metal detectors at all entrances.
Hospitals also need “safe staffing levels so nurses are not left alone with violent patients,” along with “charting systems to flag violent behaviour,” he wrote.
Without “action on emergency department overcrowding, health-care workers remain at risk,” Boynton’s statement said.
The unions also say they’re disappointed they weren’t consulted about the implementation of metal detectors, which they found out about through the media.
There are also still unknowns, such as who will operate the metal detectors and why they’re only being installed in emergency departments.
“There’s many other areas of buildings that you can go into that have no metal detectors as of yet,” SEIU’s Zunti said.
So far, there are no plans to add metal detectors in Saskatchewan hospitals outside Regina or Saskatoon.
The Saskatchewan Government and General Employees’ Union, which represents workers in northern hospitals, said metal detectors may not be the answer, but its members do need some solution to frequent physical assaults at health-care facilities.
“We have nobody to call,” said SGEU president Tracey Sauer.
“We don’t have panic buttons that you can push. We don’t have policing services, we don’t have security services. Seldom do we even have RCMP in those areas.”
Sauer said violence in hospitals where her members work is getting to a dangerous level, especially in a predominantly women-led field. She said at times, the RCMP take hours to respond to distress calls in hospitals.
Sauer said she’d like to see the health authority sit down with the union and workers in northern hospitals to see what changes they need in their hospitals.
In a statement, the Saskatchewan Health Authority told CBC News it is committed to supporting the safety and security of emergency departments and hospitals for patients, visitors and health-care teams.
The health authority will hold a news conference Thursday, where its CEO, Andrew Will, and Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill are expected to release more information about the metal detector program.
