A recent situation has family members and residents asking questions about the provincial health authority’s response to people feeling suicidal.
As reported in the April 12 Regional Optimist, a man with North Battleford connections recently tried to commit suicide. After being treated for the physical effects of the attempt, he was told by a Saskatoon psychiatrist that he was able to go home, even though he still felt suicidal.
The family characterized the psychiatrist’s decisions as allowing the family to take “him home to finish the act.”
Tracy Muggli is director of Mental Health and Addictions Services with the Saskatchewan Health Authority. Muggli is based in Saskatoon.
Muggli said privacy reasons prevent speaking about this case specifically.
After a person feeling suicidal is admitted to emergency, they are first assessed by emergency department physicians, followed by a psychiatric nurse.
The decision of what to do with people feeling suicidal once in the hospital is based on a psychiatrist’s clinical assessment.
A psychiatrist, Muggli said, would ultimately make an assessment around risk and risk of suicide, of whether or not that person would go home or be admitted to a health facility.
An option is admission to an inpatient psychiatric ward, which could consist of voluntary or involuntary admission.
“If the psychiatrist assesses that the individual needs treatment or needs an inpatient admission and is voluntarily agreeing to receive treatment, then they’re admitted voluntarily,” Muggli said.
“If there is a concern that the person is at risk of harm to themselves or others and an admission to inpatient psychiatry would benefit them, but the individual is not willing to receive treatment, [psychiatrists] may invoke the Mental Health Services Act, and certify the individual to receive treatment on the inpatient unit.”
With the help of an inter-professional team, consisting of a social worker and nurses and potentially others, a psychiatrist would determine if someone is discharged, Muggli said.
According to a statement by Communications Officer Doug Dahl of the Saskatchewan Health Authority, “patients discharged from the emergency department would be provided with information about additional support and/or referrals to services/providers.”
Some psychiatrists are on-call 24/7, and in Saskatoon there is a psychiatrist available in emergency during the day. A mental health assessment unit in Saskatoon will open at the end of April, Muggli said, and a psychiatric nurse will be available 24/7.
But Muggli said the province has a shortage of psychiatrists.
In Northern Saskatchewan, a psychiatrist flies into communities and does regular clinics, but given the distance, health facilities in those regions use Telehealth, a live video-conferencing service.
“Access to a psychiatrist in your community on a regular basis or somebody who’s available in that community is ideal,” Muggli said.
Muggli said psychiatrists making decisions about admissions of people feeling suicidal to health facilities is standard across the province.
In practice, some regions have better access to resources than others.
