Nova Scotia Health says hope on horizon for suspended overnight detox service in Sydney

Tom Ayers · CBC News

· Posted: Nov 03, 2025 5:00 AM EST | Last Updated: November 3

When Nova Scotia Health suspended its overnight detox beds astatine the Cape Breton Regional Hospital successful July, it said it needed 2 weeks to find different doc to oversee the inpatient service.

But it's been astir 4 months and radical needing assistance with substance-use withdrawal cannot hold immoderate longer, says Blair Kasouf, a retired lawyer, societal idiosyncratic and addictions medicine advocate.

"The happening with addictions, erstwhile that light's travel connected for a small portion and idiosyncratic says, 'I request help,' they request to beryllium capable to get it close away, not 'Here's an assignment six weeks down the road,' due to the fact that the person's astir apt not going to amusement up," Kasouf said.

Dr. David Martell, the province's aesculapian pb connected addictions treatment, said it's been hard recruiting caller doctors, particularly 1 for the specialty service.

"Few physicians privation to marque this their vocation oregon instrumentality connected further enactment similar this successful summation to the precise engaged practices that they run," helium said.

In the meantime, the Sydney infirmary is handling astir patients done its outpatient time programme and those successful superior withdrawal tin beryllium referred to the exigency department, Martell said.

Dr. David Martell, Nova Scotia's aesculapian pb connected addictions treatment, says astir 80 per cent of patients are being treated successful the time programme astatine the Cape Breton Regional Hospital. (Paul Palmeter/CBC)

"All parts of the wellness strategy are susceptible of helping radical negociate those symptoms," helium said. "This should not beryllium a specialty wherever lone 1 tiny portion of the wellness strategy has the expertise."

Martell said the determination hospital's "pivot" to outpatient work has done "incredibly well," with astir 80 per cent of patients being treated successful the time programme astatine the hospital's betterment enactment centre.

At the aforesaid time, Sydney's exigency section and different wards successful the infirmary are challenged with the aforesaid deficiency of capableness arsenic different facilities crossed the province, Martell said.

However, doc recruitment is ongoing and Martell said helium expects a doc for the inpatient detox work volition beryllium brought connected committee wrong a fewer months.

Kasouf said it's not bully capable to notation radical with superior withdrawal symptoms to the exigency department.

Blair Kasouf says the Cape Breton Regional Hospital's ER is already overburdened and radical recovering from substance usage request peculiar attraction to debar disturbing different patients. (Tom Ayers/CBC)

The ER is already overburdened and radical recovering from substance usage request peculiar attraction dealing with symptoms that tin see projectile vomiting and agitation, which tin disturb different patients, helium said.

"Going done terrible withdrawals is not similar getting admitted for a breached leg," Kasouf said.

"There is simply a batch of things progressive with it and there's a batch of societal factors.

"A batch of times their household is successful chaos. Their occupation is successful chaos and/or their life. They've been holding it unneurotic arsenic acold arsenic the quality to the public, but they're falling isolated successful their ain beingness and it conscionable doesn't chopped it to say, well, 'Stick them successful the hallway of the ER.'

ER a 'dumping ground'

Kasouf said immoderate radical with addictions volition not spell to the ER and those who bash whitethorn not hold hours to beryllium seen.

They'll conscionable spell backmost to substance usage to trim the withdrawal symptoms, helium said.

"I don't cognize if anybody really consulted with our ER unit astir that being a large idea.

"It's a large dumping crushed for each the societal problems successful this community. Send them to the ER, they'll hole it, and that's not just to the unit determination oregon the radical that are coming successful the doorway with a bosom onslaught oregon something."

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