SARNIA – In emergency
departments across the province, people in crisis are placed under police
supervision, often for up to eight hours, until they are admitted under the
guidelines set out by the Mental Health
Act. Not only can police presence in a hospital be distressing for some
patients, police officers are frontline resources that can be better used in
their communities, serving the public and not waiting in hospitals. That’s why
Ontario is encouraging police services and hospitals to work together to improve
transitions for patients.