A proposal to force hospitals in Nova Scotia to report gunshot and stab wounds to police is "misguided," says the head of the emergency department at the IWK Health Centre.
Dr. Doug Sinclair told the government just that months before the Tories unveiled their plan Friday.
"I do think [politicians] are concerned about public safety," he told CBC News, "but I think this is really a misguided attempt to improve the situation."
The government bill calls for health-care facilities to inform police about any patients who have been shot or stabbed. It allows them to do so anonymously and protects them from being sued.
Sinclair, who also teaches emergency medicine at Dalhousie Medical School, said the government is stepping into a very complicated and grey area.
"Sometimes it's very difficult to tell what is a stab wound in terms of what happened intentionally versus a minor accident at home. If we have to report all the stab wounds, that's just an administrative nightmare," he said.
But his primary concern is that someone could be scared away from going to a hospital if they know police will find out about them.
"We're very concerned that youth in need of care would not come to the emergency department," Sinclair said.
He acknowledges that other doctors may not agree with him on the issue of mandatory reporting.
The Tory government is selling its proposal as a way to protect both patients and health-care providers, and to help police do their work.
"People are showing up at facilities for care, and while they have every right and should receive that care, we need to protect the people in the system and also aid in the investigations," said Justice Minister Cecil Clark.
He will not discuss what penalties might be imposed on hospitals that refuse to report patients.
Not surprisingly, Halifax police Chief Frank Beazley supports the government's bill.
"Several cases that we've had, people have died in the hospital and we haven't been informed for upwards of seven days," Beazley said.
"Where do we find the crime scene? Where do we start then? What's the fairness to the victim and the victim's family? So I think you do have to weigh it out and balance it."
Sinclair said if there is an issue, he would prefer that doctors and nurses talk with the patient and family, then encourage them to call police.
Besides, he added, the number of violent incidents is dropping and doctors are simply not swamped with patients with gunshot wounds.
"Isolated incidents really shouldn't guide legislation, and I'm concerned that's what's happening here," he said.
Whenever there is a grey area and so many diverging opinions, that's a "clear message" that the government should let health-care professionals make discretionary decisions, Sinclair said.
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