Prison ombudsman Howard Sapers says mental health issues at federal prisons are a public safety issue. (Patrick Doyle/Canadian Press)

Critical work with inmates in federal prisons is not being done because of a shortage of mental health professionals, the union representing those workers said Monday.

"Some things are urgent like suicide attempts, those things get done first because they are deemed to be the highest priority, and stuff like programs and therapy tends to not get done," said Wayne Bennett, Prairies representative with the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada.

"Probably the majority don't get anywhere near the therapy that the judge intended at the time that he or she sentenced them."

'Public safety a factor'

The union's concerns are echoed by Howard Sapers, Canada's prison ombudsman as the federal correctional investigator.

"Public safety is clearly a factor," Sapers said of the shortage of psychological programs for inmates.

"At least 10 per cent are coming in with a significant diagnosed mental illness," Sapers said. "We're gaining awareness every day around fetal-alcohol syndrome and the number of offenders who are, in fact, brain-injured as a result of fetal-alcohol disorders.

"So we could be seeing as many as a third of our offenders having a mental health issue."

An increasing number of prison health-care staff are taking stress leave, Bennett said, and many are leaving their federal jobs for higher pay with provincial agencies.

"It's been identified as a priority," said Gillian Pranger, media relations officer for the Correctional Service of Canada.

"The vacancy rates for psychologists and nurses are the highest in the Pacific and Prairie regions."

In the meantime, Bennett said, the agency is scrambling to adjust.

"Flying in contract nurses from B.C., begging nurses at the regional psychiatric centre to travel for a month or six weeks," Bennett said, "and provide services so that the staff who are there, you know, and are subminimal in numbers don't absolutely burn out."

The Correctional Service of Canada has begun a program to recruit more psychologists, psychiatrists and nurses and keep the ones they have, said Pranger. But she couldn't say whether that program would include more competitive pay scales.