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Some psychiatric patients wait days in ER for hospital admission: data
🇨🇦 Canada /Health & Science

Some psychiatric patients wait days in ER for hospital admission: data

From Global News · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • Psychiatric patients in Canada face significantly longer wait times for hospital admissions compared to other patients, with some waiting over two weeks.
  • Experts attribute the worsening crisis to demand outpacing funding for mental health care, leading to prolonged stays in emergency rooms.
  • The emergency department environment, characterized by noise and constant light, is considered harmful to patients in mental health crises, potentially exacerbating their conditions.

Psychiatric patients across Canada are experiencing prolonged waits in emergency departments for hospital admissions, with some individuals waiting for days, even weeks, for a specialized psychiatric bed. Data reveals that in Alberta, one patient waited 16 days last year, while another in British Columbia experienced a wait of just over nine days.

While these are extreme cases, mental health experts highlight a growing crisis. On average, patients in Alberta waited more than 33 hours for a psychiatric bed in the past year, significantly longer than the overall average hospital admission wait time of about nine hours. Similarly, Quebec reported an average wait of over 33 hours for psychiatric patients in emergency rooms, nearly 10 hours longer than the general patient average.

That chaotic, noisy environment, it’s not therapeutic, (it) has a real meaningful impact on our patients as they wait.

— Dr. Karen DuncalfDescribing the negative effects of the emergency department environment on psychiatric patients.

Experts note that this disparity has persisted for decades and is worsening as demand for mental health services outstrips available funding. The emergency department environment itself is cited as detrimental to individuals experiencing mental health crises. The constant noise, fluctuating lights, and chaotic atmosphere can negatively impact patients, potentially leading to deterioration and extending their hospital stays.

"That chaotic, noisy environment, it’s not therapeutic, (it) has a real meaningful impact on our patients as they wait," said Dr. Karen Duncalf, President of the Alberta Psychiatric Association. Patients requiring psychiatric admission remain in the ER, monitored and treated, until a bed becomes available and sufficient staff are present in the ward. In cases where a patient poses a risk to themselves or others, they may be placed in a seclusion room within the ER, a space described by one patient as "confining, horrible, anxiety-provoking."

Once you have gone through a traumatic experience like this once or twice or even more, you’re never the same.

— Vancouver womanRecounting the lasting psychological impact of being placed in an ER seclusion room.
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Originally published by Global News. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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