The Protecteur du citoyen received a report about the Établissement de détention de Hull. Seemingly, there were long wait times for healthcare and health service delivery. The Protecteur du citoyen decided to intervene.
Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux (CISSS) de l'Outaouais is responsible for the healthcare staff at this Gatineau facility.
Intervention
During the intervention, cooperation with the Protecteur du citoyen was excellent on all fronts. Action to correct certain shortcomings was quick.
Despite this, the investigation showed that there were a number of problems with the provision of healthcare and health services in this correctional facility. For example:
- From Monday to Friday, the health centre is closed in the evenings due to understaffing, among other things.
- The lack of clinical tools and reference frameworks complicates the work of healthcare staff.
- Medication management (storage, distribution, etc.) is such that care and services can be unsafe.
- The procedure for forwarding a request to healthcare staff does not always guarantee that exchanges are confidential.
- External services, also under the responsibility of CISSS de l'Outaouais, provide little or no information to the health office after meeting with detainees.
Recommendations
The Protecteur du citoyen made 16 recommendations and two follow-up requests to CISSS de l'Outaouais, which accepted all of them. Implementation of the recommendations will be closely monitored.
