Media Contacts

Ministry of Health

Communications
250 952-1887 (media line)

Backgrounders

Facts about workplace violence, Switch BC
  • Workplace violence is defined as incidents where staff are abused, threatened or assaulted in circumstances related to their work, involving an explicit or implicit challenge to their safety, well-being or health.
  • For nurses and health-care assistants (both predominantly female workforces), violence was the second most common cause of time loss claims between 2015 and 2019, the first being overexertion.
  • The relational security model is already in several health-care facilities in Island Health and focuses on integrating three key security aspects, including:
    • the knowledge of patients, the environment and appropriate responses;
    • physical security, such as personal alarms, fences, and secure rooms; and
    • procedural security, which are policies to maintain safety.
  • Relational security aligns with best practices in trauma-informed practice.
  • Trauma is often closely tied to substance use, mental illness, stigma, health-care access barriers and other challenges.
  • Trauma-informed practice involves recognizing this link and making sure people feel safe and are not retraumatized or triggered by their care.
  • When people feel safe, they are far less likely to behave aggressively.
  • SWITCH BC is a new organization focused on the health, safety and well-being of more than 300,000 people who work in health care.
Relational security model

The relational security model is in place, with about 100 full-time-equivalent protection services officers, in the following seven acute and two mental health sites in Island Health:

  • Royal Jubilee Hospital
  • Seven Oaks Tertiary Mental Health Facility
  • Queen Alexandra Centre for Children’s Health
  • Victoria General Hospital
  • Cowichan District Hospital
  • Nanaimo Regional Hospital
  • North Island Hospital Comox Valley
  • North Island Hospital Campbell River and District
  • West Coast General Hospital

The Province is providing health authorities with funding to further establish the relational security model in the following 26 health-care settings:

Fraser Health

  • Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Centre
  • Burnaby Hospital
  • Chilliwack General Hospital
  • Delta Hospital
  • Langley Memorial Hospital
  • Peace Arch Hospital
  • Royal Columbian Hospital
  • Surrey Memorial Hospital

Interior Health

  • Cariboo Memorial Hospital
  • East Kootenay Regional Hospital
  • Kelowna General Hospital
  • Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital
  • Penticton Regional Hospital
  • Royal Inland Hospital
  • Vernon Jubilee Hospital

Island Health

  • Cowichan Lodge Tertiary Mental Health Facility
  • Saanich Peninsula Hospital

Northern Health

  • Mills Memorial Hospital
  • Prince Rupert Regional Hospital
  • University Hospital of Northern British Columbia

Providence Health Care

  • Mount Saint Joseph Hospital
  • St. Paul’s Hospital

Provincial Health Services Authority

  • BC Women’s Hospital/BC Children’s Hospital

Vancouver Coastal Health

  • Lions Gate Hospital
  • Richmond Hospital
  • Vancouver General Hospital