The Protecteur du citoyen received several reports concerning the safety and quality of care provided in the Lakeshore General Hospital emergency department. The reports described excessive use of restraints, as well as deviations from the protocol in effect governing their use.
The Protecteur du citoyen decided to intervene to verify whether service users' rights were being respected at this CIUSSS de l'Ouest-de-l'Île-de-Montréal hospital centre.
Context and intervention
Restraints are control measures designed to limit a person's movements to ensure their safety and that of others. Restraints can be physical (e.g. barriers, restraints, force) or chemical (e.g. sedatives).
During its intervention, the Protecteur du citoyen noted:
- The emergency staff’s lack of knowledge of the protocol governing control measures;
- That restraints are sometimes resorted to too quickly, without alternative measures being attempted first;
- Shortcomings in supervising service users and in record-keeping when a control measure is applied.
However, the Protecteur du citoyen sees that several steps have already been taken to correct the problems.
Recommendations
The Protecteur du citoyen issued one recommendation to the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux and four recommendations to CIUSSS de l'Ouest-de-l'Île-de-Montréal. These recommendations are aimed in particular at better supervising and documenting the use of control measures in the Lakeshore General Hospital emergency department.
The recommendations were all accepted. The Protecteur du citoyen will monitor their implementation closely.
English summary of the intervention report concerning Lakeshore General Hospital (PDF, 146 KiB)
