Hillsborough Hospital assault raises mental health questions

A case involving a 21-year-old P.E.I. woman sentenced Tuesday to jail time for assaulting a Hillsborough Hospital worker has raised questions about how the province deals with people who need mental health care after committing a crime.

The woman was sentenced Tuesday to two months in jail on top of time already served for an assault last month on a worker at the psychiatric hospital.

The staff do not feel safe. They feel they are being asked to do something that is dangerous.- UPSE president Debbie Bovyer

She has been accused of assaulting hospital staff on numerous occasions and last month, punched a worker several times in the head and bit that person in the leg.

The woman has spent the past three years in Hillsborough Hospital. According to lawyers, she hasn't been diagnosed with a mental illness, but instead suffers from behavioural problems and lacks some of the basic skills to live on her own.

She told the court Tuesday her goal was to get out of Hillsborough Hospital and into jail, where she's been for the past month.

'Lack of support' from management

The problem seems to be finding a long-term solution. A psychiatrist's report recommended "secure transitional housing" for the woman, but that hasn't happened yet.

Both her lawyer and Judge John Douglas agree she shouldn't be in the hospital and that's she's made more progress while in jail.

In court, the accused's lawyer said measures to protect Hillsborough staff haven't been working as shown by the number of assaults by his client. He also said those measures, including segregation, have had a negative impact on his client.

In response to the case, one of the unions representing workers met with hospital administration last week to express concerns for worker safety.

"We're looking for a long-term plan to protect the staff," said Debbie Bovyer, president of the P.E.I. Union of Public Sector Employees.

"The staff do not feel safe. They feel quite threatened when they're trying to do their job. They feel lack of support from management. They don't feel the policies are tough enough to protect them and they also feel they are being asked to do something that is dangerous."

The union says it wasn't satisfied with the response from hospital administrators and now it's asking the Workers Compensation Board of P.E.I. to step in.