Janeway poison control service may be farmed out

Eastern Health is confirming one of its poison control services for children may be shut down and outsourced to a provider in another province.

CBC was contacted by a source who said that as part of the operational changes at the health authority the poison control phonelines at the Janeway hospital in St. John's are being discontinued and contracted outside of Newfoundland and Labrador.

"I can tell you that this is a recommendation," said health authority spokesperson Zelda Burt in an email.

"There has been no final decision yet; however, the service will continue to be provided – no matter what the final decision is. Eastern Health has not made a final decision on any change to the current operation of the pediatric advice and poison control lines."

The health authority also said permanent workers won’t be affected by any changes to poison control services.

"No permanent employee will be laid off as a result of the initiatives that were announced on Tuesday. Should an employee’s permanent position be impacted by any initiative, the employee will be redeployed to another program or service area," said Burt in the email.

The poison control lines give advice to people who are concerned that they or their children have been poisoned, by anything from a household product to a prescription drug.

The changes to the poison control service would be part of the changes the health authority announced earlier this week to cut costs and help Eastern Health operate more efficiently.

Same advice rejected a decade ago

In 2002, a report from the HayGroup for the Health Care Corporation of St. John’s also recommended closing the Janeway’s Poison Control line and outsourcing the service.

"The Vice President Patient Care Services should establish a 1 800 poison control line by contracting the service with a larger paediatric hospital," the HayGroup recommended.

"The poison advice line could be substituted by a 1-800 connection to another, larger children's such as the Hospital For Sick Children Poison Control Centre."

The HayGroup gave a number of reasons, including these:

• There is ample literature suggesting that telephone triage systems pose a potential liability to both nurses and doctors
• Although information lines are often established to reduce visit volume in the emergency department, this study was not provided with evidence or information to suggest that the service has resulted in decreased visits to the Janeway Emergency Department.

In a written response to the HayGroup in 2002, the Health Care Corporation of St. John's, which has since become part of Eastern Health, rejected the recommendation.

"The corporation does not support this recommendation. The estimated cost to contract Poison Control is $80,000. Cost for both Poison Control and accommodating 12,000 pediatric advice calls [annually] is currently $150,000," said the Healthcare Corporation's written response.

"Given the amount and quality of advice provided to patients and the potential increase in Emergency visits if the advice line were discontinued, this service will be maintained."

In 2002, the line was staffed by three full-time equivalent (FTE) employees.

There are currently a total of four permanent part-time employees, equivalent to 2.7 FTEs, according to Eastern Health.

"It should be noted that no permanent employee will be laid off as a result of the initiatives that were announced lastTuesday.  Should an employee’s permanent position be impacted by any initiative, the employee will be redeployed to another program or service area," wrote Burt.

The health authority said the Janeway Poison Control Line handles more than 2,000 calls per year, while the Janeway Pediatric Telephone Advice Line handles approximately 6,400 calls per year.