Jury recommends 'timely' investigations after inquest into Hillsborough suicide
Recommendations include internal reviews, implementation of checklists and deaths to be noted separately
An inquest jury praised Health PEI for its response to a 2010 suicide at Hillsborough Hospital, saying the internal review that followed the death provided a "strong model" to try to prevent future institutional deaths, and said a similar review should be conducted any time there is an unnatural death in an institution.
Testimony began and finished Monday at an inquest into a death by suicide at Hillsborough Hospital in Charlottetown in 2010. The six-person jury deliberated Tuesday morning and made a series of recommendations for the province.
Catherine Shirley Gillis, 69, died on Feb. 14, 2010. Because she was an involuntary patient at the mental health hospital, an inquest was required by provincial legislation.
The inquest heard on Monday that an internal review in 2010 resulted in 20 recommendations, all of which were implemented.
The jury heard testimony on Monday about the reasons for the delay in holding the required inquest, which came eight years after Gillis died.
The jury recommended any incident reports, autopsies and subsequent investigations be completed in a timely manner any time there is a death in a public institution considered unnatural, such as a suicide or a violent death.
Look to Nova Scotia for protocols
Among its recommendations, the jury said P.E.I. should review the protocols of the Nova Scotia medical examiner and consider using critical care nurses trained in forensic pathology to help conduct investigations through the coroner's office.
It also said the coroner's office should institute a checklist including all data and forms to be included with an investigation.
Another recommendation was for institutional deaths to be listed separately in the annual report from the chief coroner to the attorney general's office.
The jury also recommended Health PEI institute electronic health records within public facilities to provide a verifiable, formal record of a patient's health and well-being, something counsel for Health PEI said has already been done.
These recommendations will now be forwarded to the chief coroner and to P.E.I.'s minister of justice.
More P.E.I. News
With files from Kerry Campbell