Saskatchewan’s health minister says the independent safety review commissioned by the province earlier this year is now complete, but will not be shared publicly until the ministry addresses its recommendations.
Jeremy Cockrill said Thursday that there is work to be done between the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) and the Ministry of Health to review some of the “immediate pressures” identified in the report and to work with facilities to implement them.
“I don’t want to put a report out there that may share vulnerabilities that both are there for staff and patients in health care facilities,” said Cockrill at an unrelated press conference in North Battleford, Sask.
The Health Ministry announced in January it was launching a review into hospital safety at the request of the SHA following a string of violent incidents and mounting concerns at facilities across the province.
In May, the province announced it had contracted Buckingham Security Services Ltd. to conduct the six-month review, under the leadership of executive director and former Saskatoon police chief Clive Weighill.
Cockrill said he met with the contracted firm earlier this week for the first time since the report was finalized, adding it did a “really fantastic job” evaluating the current safety status of health care facilities and future opportunities.
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The finished review now presents the province with an opportunity to accelerate the work needed to address vulnerabilities, Cockrill said.
“So we’ll be having some discussions with both the ministry and the Saskatchewan Health Authority and many of our site leads right around the province and health care facilities to say, ‘Hey, this specific item was addressed in this facility; this needs to get dealt with in the next 30 days.’”
The review was expected to involve around 30 people and cost the province $1 million, according to the health ministry. It would involve a review of current safety practices at SHA facilities and provide recommendations to improve safety for patients, visitors and staff.
Weighill previously told Global News that his team would talk to a range of stakeholders, including unions, protective services officers, First Nations and new immigrants to Canada.
The announcement of the review also came weeks after the death of 36-year-old Trevor Dubois, who died on Jan. 9 following an altercation with security staff at Saskatoon’s Royal University Hospital.
But Weighill said the review will not investigate the circumstances of that incident and will only be reviewed at a high level, along with other security incidents, to identify trends.
In January, the province responded to the mounting hospital safety concerns by installing metal detectors at emergency department entrances in Saskatoon, Regina, Prince Albert and North Battleford.
The SHA also said it would hire 51 protective service workers to staff the detectors in the province, with the cost of the detectors and staff totalling $3 million.
Alongside these previous investments, Cockrill said the Health Ministry will also bring forward “a more comprehensive plan,” with work to be done on the best way to execute it.
“There’s more work to do, but you’re going to see, out of this report, I think, really a more integrated plan come forward.”
Cockrill did not provide a timeline for releasing the review.
