SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The recent death of a Yellowknife teenager highlights a "myriad of failures" with the territory's mental health system, say family members and a Yellowknife MLA.
Timothy Henderson: Nineteen-year old died in an Edmonton hospital on April 26 after life support was withdrawn.
Margaret Leishman and her son Allisdair Leishman in Allisdair's room at Stanton Territorial Hospital, Jan. 25. Allisdair remains in hospital after stabbing himself in the heart in 2009. - NNSL file photo |
Timothy Henderson, 19, died in an Edmonton hospital late last month after repeatedly trying to access mental health services in both Yellowknife and Edmonton.
Parents Ian Henderson and Connie Boraski, along with her husband James Boraski, have raised concerns about gaps in mental health care prior to his death.
Health and Social Services Minister Glen Abernethy announced a review into the young man's death last week but his stepfather questions what good will come of it. Several other tragedies and subsequent coroner's reports failed to lead to significant changes at Stanton Territorial Hospital where Henderson sought treatment only to die days later after being released April 17.
"It really leaves us thinking as a family how sincere and how interested is the department in doing something in terms of improving the situation in terms of the coroner's reports," said Boraski.
"We're just looking to make it better so other parents and other kids don't go through this, especially when they're self-admitting and crying for help. That's a call to 'help me live, not help me die.'"
Nonetheless, Range Lake MLA Daryl Dolynny said the review announced last week by Abernethy is a good step toward potentially addressing what may have gone wrong.
"There's a myriad of failures in multiple points of access within our system, we've said that for years, everybody has known that for years, we've questioned that in the house dozens of times," Dolynny said.
The way in which the review is set up will be critical to whether it is effective, Dolynny said.
"You've got to see what the mandate is, who will be doing the review, whether it's an interview style review, what's going to be made public to the general public, what's going to be made public to (MLAs)," he said Monday.
According to Damien Healy, spokesman for the health department, the review's terms of reference are still being determined and Abernethy will speak to the media in a few weeks once they are complete. The minister originally said the terms would take about a week to draw up, coming May 8.
The parents have wondered if a coroner's inquest could be called. The NWT coroner's office is a quasi-judicial body that investigates deaths. An inquest is required by law if someone dies in police or corrections service custody. A coroner can also call an inquest "if they believe it is necessary or in the public interest," the Department of Justice website states.
Inquest juries can make recommendations but they are only recommendations. They don't have to be followed.
Because Henderson died in Edmonton, there are jurisdictional issues to overcome before considering any potential inquiry said Cathy Menard, the NWT chief coroner.
"We were a little surprised by that because the health care issues we spoke about happened here," Boraski said.
The teen had gone to Stanton several times seeking help prior to his death but was soon discharged and felt discouraged, his parents said.
Henderson died in Yellowknife but was revived and sent to Edmonton with the hope of neurological recovery so that his organs could be donated, Boraski said.
More than five years ago, the former chief coroner, Garth Eggenberger, called for changes to the Mental Health Act so health authorities can take people into custody for longer than 24 hours, the maximum allowable length at the time.
"It's our feeling that the time spent there (Stanton) is not long enough to address their issues," Eggenberger told Yellowknifer in 2010 after the release of a coroner's report. The maximum time was later extended to 48 hours.
At the time Eggenberger said the deaths of people with mental health problems in the NWT pointed to a pattern, leading him to call for improvements to the health care system in order to deal with patients having suicidal thoughts.
"We know there is something wrong," he said five years ago.
The corner's office issued a report following the death of Karen Lander in 2012. The health department also issued a report after Allisdair Leishman was severely injured when he stabbed himself in the heart while at Stanton.
The reports had a range of recommended changes to hospital procedures and police for those with mental health issues, including better coordination between departments and that family members of those attending the emergency room with suicidal tendencies are promptly informed.
A report about Julian Tologanak-Labrie, who jumped to his death from a plane flying from Yellowknife to Cambridge Bay in 2009, also recommended changes at Stanton.
Tologanak-Labrie had been taken to the hospital by RCMP but was released and subsequently boarded the plane to his home community.
Following a review of the case the jury recommended both the governments of Nunavut and the NWT review their mental health legislation to ensure it is focused on patient care.
Another recommendation was that Stanton should have an on-call psychiatrist for emergency calls.
Henderson's parents went to Stanton last Wednesday to learn more about what happened when he self-admitted to the hospital.
Speaking last week from Thunder Bay, Ont., Boraski said some of what they were told was disturbing.
A recommendation from a previous coroner's inquest called for a second full-time psychiatrist to be hired.
While the money has been budgeted for the position, it's still being filled by a locum - or fill-in - doctor.
"It kind of leaves you feeling a little bit hopeless," Boraski said.
Bing Guthrie, who has been medical director at the Stanton Territorial Health Authority for only a few months, wasn't sure how long the hospital has been funded for two psychiatrists, but said it has been a while.
"We have been looking for psychiatrists ... There are some leads as far as looking for psychiatrists," he said.
There are challenges to recruiting talent to the North, he said.
"Trying to find people who want to come up here and commit long term is never easy in any of the medical specialties or fields," Guthrie said.
Guthrie declined to speak directly to the other concerns the parents raised about how Henderson was treated in hospital.
"Some of my comments have been taken rather negatively by the press, so no I don't (want to comment)," he said.
He said the review announcement by the minister came "quite quickly" and the hospital will be involved in the process.
He added that Stanton has an internal committee that looks at all deaths in the hospital which will likely examine Henderson's time in their care.
"I'm sure it will be done," he said.
The review, which won't be public, may include recommendations for changes, Guthrie said. However, he added that the committee hasn't met recently because so many other things have been happening at the hospital.
Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins, who said mental health is one of the top two issues he hears about from constituents aside from fracking, proposed a change to the Mental Health Act to remove the word "imminent" from the legislation during the last sitting of the legislative assembly.
Under the current act, the power to require psychiatric assessment, detention of a patient or admittance of a patient without their consent relies on the immediacy of a threat to themselves or others.
Removing the word would make it easier for doctors to intervene.
However, Hawkins' proposal was shot down in the assembly after some behind-the-scenes lobbying by Abernethy, said Dolynny. He said MLAs were told by the minister that by moving forward with the change, it would delay the department's drafting of a new Mental Health Act.
"People felt that was the bigger prize," Dolynny said.
Abernethy said, after consulting with lawyers and health-care providers, it was determined the suggested change would not have the effect Hawkins sought.
"It in fact does not remove the problem," he said.
Hawkins told Yellowknifer he was disturbed by how his suggested change was handled.
"Undermining the potential to save lives is one of the most horrible things someone can do," he said.
"We're not delaying, we're moving forward as quickly as we can with a meaningful bill as quickly as we can," Abernethy told Yellowknifer in response.
Healy, the department spokesman, said Tuesday that the new act is still being drafted.
"This legislation is a priority of the GNWT, and we are working to complete the bill in order to have it ready for the May/June session," he stated in an e-mail.
Time, however, is running out. MLAs will have just seven days to consider the new act during the next session, which begins May 27. That will be followed by an eight-day session in the final week of September, the last one before the Nov. 23 election.
