Hillsborough Hospital security questions re-emerge

Renewed concerns are being raised over security at P.E.I.'s psychiatric hospital and its ability to treat people with serious mental illness.

Hillsborough Hospital is the Island's main facility for treating those with mental illness. But the ability of the hospital to handle potentially dangerous patients is again being called into question.

• Hillsborough Hospital assault raises mental health questions

The most recent concerns stem from a high-profile court case this week where lawyers raised questions in Summerside court Thursday.

The court heard the case of Scott Alexander McNally, 28who was found walking on the Confederation Bridge on Sept. 1. He took off in a bridge service truck, seriously injuring an RCMP officer.

A psychiatrist assessment found McNally was psychotic and delusional at the time of the incident.

Judge Jeff Lantz ruled that McNally was not criminally responsible and ordered him to be sent to Hillsborough Hospital for treatment.

• ScottMcNally 'delusional' during Confederation Bridge incident

"Well my concerns relate to the safety, not just of the general public, but also for Scott McNally. He needs to be in a secure facility and I have concerns over whether or not Hillsborough Hospital is a secure facility," said Crown prosecutor John Diamond.

McNally's psychiatric assessment was conducted under secure conditions at the East Coast Forensic Hospital in Nova Scotia.

Patients that are coming in from a forensic referral are going to be much sicker and much more difficult to handle.- Debbie Bovyer, UPSE president

According to the psychiatric report that facility is full and can no longer take patients from P.E.I.

That raises concerns with the Union of Public Sector Employees.

"The staffing levels and the security levels have not changed in many, many years," said Debbie Bovyer, UPSE president.

"Patients that are coming in from a forensic referral are going to be much sicker and much more difficult to handle."

Health PEI says it still has a contract with Nova Scotia to conduct psychiatric assessments, but in the future, those assessments, in addition to long-term treatment, will be done at Hillsborough.

"We are arranging training for our staff to meet the rise in demand, which appears to be a national trend," said Health PEI in a written statement.

"An integrated approach is required to address the increasing needs and demands to assess, support, treat and monitor these individuals. Government departments and Health PEI are working together to improve the delivery of, and meet the need for services, that support mentally ill offenders."