A new protocol for healthcare providers and police aims to improve their responses to mental health calls.
The OPP say in a statement, changes came into effect in September between hospital partners, first responders and police services in Grey-Bruce with regard to how they transfer people who are apprehended by police under the Mental Health Act, to hospitals.
The idea is to make it easier for police to transfer responsibility for a person to the hospital, allowing officers, who often sit in hospitals for long periods of time, to return to other work.
Owen Sound Police Chief Craig Ambrose says it’s a province-wide framework that each local area can work within to address their own specific needs.
Ambrose explains it came about after the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police identified having police officers tied up and waiting in emergency rooms for long periods of time was not effective policing, and what Ambrose says was, “Really a detriment to everybody.”
Now, police are to fill out a Mental Health and Addictions Screening Form with their observations about the apprehended person.
There is also a Transfer of Custody Form hospital staff will use to record a risk analysis by the hospital staff and the police officer.
Ambrose says, “It helps everybody speak the same language, stay on the same page and make a better transition and a better outcome for the individual that’s requiring the services.”
He adds, “The way the police talk and the way the hospital talks are two different things, so there’s been implementation of some training and some forms so that the police are using more language that’s consistent with the medical side of it and the medical people are understanding what the police are saying.”
Community partners involved in the changes include:
Bruce County Paramedic Services
Grey Bruce Canadian Mental Health Association
Grey Bruce Health Services
Grey County Paramedic Services
Grey Bruce OPP
Hanover and District Hospital
Hanover Police Services
Owen Sound Police Services
Neyaashiinigmiing First Nation Police
Saugeen Shores Police
South Bruce Grey Health Centre
South Bruce OPP
West Grey Police Services
OPP say in a media release, “There have been very positive reactions and hope for the success of this new partnership, and its ability to help some of the most vulnerable members of the community.”
Dana Howes, President and CEO of Hanover District Hospital and Co-Chair of the Committee facilitating these changes, says in a statement it’s a, “Phenomenal collaborative leadership effort to develop this regional approach to establishing a comprehensive protocol between police forces and hospitals in the care of patients that have been apprehended under the Mental Health Act.”