BC says mental health act changes aimed at helping nurses, but critics worried
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BC Premier David Eby has announced proposed changes to the Mental Health Act that he says will protect health-care workers who provide involuntary care from facing legal action.
It comes as the province is facing a charter challenge In the act, over a provision that groups say deprives patients of the ability to consent to treatment.
“As we get closer to the judgment date, there is some legitimate concern among frontline health workers that if this case succeeds in overturning that provision, they will not be protected,” Eby said.
While the Prime Minister says these changes are necessary to ensure that health care workers are clearly protected from liability, some in the industry have questioned why this change is necessary – as they say the Act already covers liability protection.
A charter challenge to BC’s Mental Health Act is finally being heard in the BC Supreme Court, nearly a decade after it was first filed. As Michelle Morton reports, lawyers are arguing that the act’s “deemed consent” provision removes a patient’s right to consent to their own treatment.
The proposed change in the Bill will delete the first part of section 31 Mental Health ActWhich stipulated that if a patient is detained under the Act, “the treatment authorized by the Director shall be deemed to have been given with the consent of the patient.”
A provision will be added to section 16 to say that employees are not liable if they provide care or other services to a patient authorized by the Director, if they provide reasonable care in good faith.
The “deemed consent” provision, which assumes consent to psychiatric treatment for any person detained in involuntary care under the law, is At the center of a court challenge Originally filed in 2016 by the Council of Canadians with Disabilities and other groups.
Proponents of the challenge say that deemed consent removes safeguards that ensure a patient is being treated humanely, and violates the Charter rights to life, liberty and security for all.
The province has introduced new legislation aimed at updating B.C.’s Mental Health Act. Premier David Aby says the changes will strengthen involuntary care and better protect frontline workers. But as Amelia John reports, it also comes amid a charter challenge being heard in the BC Supreme Court.
critics matter
Angela Rossolillo, an assistant professor in the school of nursing at the University of British Columbia, says the changes are “misguided” and create more confusion than clarity.
“(Providers) don’t need an incentive to unknowingly admit more people,” she said.
“We need resources to keep people out of crisis and promote health and well-being before we need to intervene involuntarily.”
BC Health Minister Josie Osborne answers questions about the province’s efforts to expand its involuntary care system. She talks with BC TODAY host Michelle Elliott about how the new ‘home-like’ involuntary care space in Maple Ridge will be managed, who will be admitted to the facility, and how a review of BC’s Mental Health Act could impact how the province oversees the system.
Russolillo says that before these proposed changes, liability protection measures were already in place under section 16.
“The long-standing understanding of health professionals is that section 31 is about deemed consent, not liability protection,” he said.
Green Party MLA for West Vancouver—Sea to Sky Jeremy Valeriot said the change is an “opportunistic attempt” to strengthen the province’s involuntary care protections, and renewed calls for a review of the Mental Health Act.
“Today’s minor amendments barely scratch the surface of the work needed to update this outdated law, and may actually set us back,” he said in a statement Monday.
“While the Government is right to acknowledge that section 31 is highly problematic, simply shifting the language within the Act does not address the core issue: coercive health measures that are not consistent with evidence-based understandings of mental health and illness.”
In a statement, Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy expressed concern that the move could be an attempt by B.C. to overturn its ongoing legal challenges.
“The amendment is intended to avert a Charter challenge filed by a coalition of disability justice and human rights organizations due to the overly broad definition of ‘deemed consent’,” the statement said.
“Removing (section) 31 makes it clear that the patient’s consent is irrelevant.”
Many British Columbians, including Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim, are asking for an update on mental health practices in the province following the Lapu-Lapu Day tragedy. Dr. Shimei Kang, psychiatrist at Future Ready Minds and clinical associate professor at the University of British Columbia, talks about what those improvements might look like.
When announcing the proposed amendments, AB said their intention was to ensure the safety of health care workers.
“This change that we are introducing in the Legislature does not make the court challenge irrelevant,” he said.
“It has no impact on whether the court is able to deal with some of the important questions about where the limits are on involuntary care or treatment.”
The province has also committed to a full review of the Mental Health Act.
