(LONDON – September 20, 2010)
-- Its time to stop
cutting beds and do an updated mental
health care needs assessment in the
London area says the Ontario Public
Service Employees Union in a new report
released today.
OPSEU is
releasing “No Place To Go” following a
summer of confusion over bed transfers
from Regional Mental Health Care –
London and St. Thomas.
Bed counts
at the mental health hospital will drop
to nearly half over the next four years,
138 beds transferring away from the RMHC,
as many as 80 beds disappearing
entirely.
The union
argues that while the target bed counts
come from the 13-year old
recommendations of the provincial Health
Services Restructuring Commission, the
province has failed to provide promised
replacement care in the community.
“The
Health Restructuing Commission was very
clear that none of these beds should be
lost before services are replaced in the
community,” says OPSEU President Warren
(Smokey) Thomas. “They cut the beds, but
they never even came close to replacing
those services elsewhere.”
The union
argues the costs of only taking half of
the HSRC’s recommendations have been
high. The government’s own discussion
paper admits that mental health and
addictions costs the Ontario economy $39
billion per year, and that for every
dollar spent on mental health, $7 is
saved in health costs and $30 saved in
lost productivity.
The union
is also concerned that relying on a
planning document that is 13-years old
may not take into consideration more
recent demographic projections. For
example, the Alzheimer’s Society of
Ontario has projected the number of
Ontarians with dementia to double within
the next 25 years. With half the
available beds, this could put London’s
mental health services under incredible
stress.
The union
is recommending the plans for the new
RMHC be placed on hold until a needs
assessment can be completed, one that
takes into account the 10-year
provincial mental health plan that is
expected to be completed later this
year.
“You don’t
make major changes to services first,
then plan later,” says Thomas. “With
private consortiums bidding on the new
RMHC in London and St. Thomas, it’s
important we get this right.”
Copies of the full report can be
downloaded here.
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