On Thursday, the Official Opposition questioned the lack of action by Scott Moe’s Health Minister to address a serious safety threat inside the St. Paul’s Hospital on Nov. 27, where a patient was found to be in possession of a firearm and three knives.
The harrowing evening inside St. Paul’s led to the police being called to the hospital twice — once when a member of the housekeeping staff discovered a firearm and a second time when a patient was behaving violently. Reports from the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN) indicates the patient was carrying multiple knives and used one of them to repeatedly stab the window of an isolation room they’d been placed in. The patient also threatened to sexually assault and kill a frontline healthcare worker.
“This is a horrific series of events — no one deserves to experience this kind of terror and threat to their personal safety at their place of work,” said Nathaniel Teed, Saskatchewan NDP Labour Shadow Minister. “We have since learned this incident is not in isolation and that there have been repeated safety incidents, illicit drug deals and more occurring inside St. Paul’s.
“We need an emergency plan from the government to protect the safety of patients and workers. This is a hospital — it should be safe and the people working there should be able to focus on caring for sick people.”
SUN published a video late Friday night on the incident. The organization has revealed a metal detector was to be installed at St. Paul’s; however, media reports state that it was instead moved to a different facility due to a lack of security officers, and the layout of the hospital.
“Why is the safety of workers at St. Paul’s not being taken seriously?” said Keith Jorgenson, Saskatchewan NDP Deputy Shadow Health Minister. “Frontline healthcare workers must feel safe and know that their government has their backs,” Jorgenson added. “If we can’t keep people working in our hospitals safe and supported, that is going to make our worst-in-the-nation recruitment and retention challenges even harder.”
The Saskatchewan NDP is demanding the Sask. Party come forward with an emergency plan to improve safety at St. Paul’s this week.
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