A former intake nurse from our province’s Operational Stress Injury clinic says Lionel Desmond never began treatment there.
Natasha Tofflemire gave testimony on the 13th day of the Desmond Fatality Inquiry in Port Hawkesbury.
Tofflemire says she spoke to Desmond’s Veterans Affairs Canada caseworker, who told her Desmond was going to see a community therapist.
“He would require psychiatry follow up, but she felt at the time having him settled in his community with a regular psychologist was the more pressing issue.”
Tofflemire says the Halifax-area OSI clinic didn’t have ready access to a psychiatrist at the time, requiring appointments for medicine management to be booked up to two months in advance.
She says that, coupled with the distance, meant it wasn’t uncommon for veterans away from the city to prefer community treatment options.
“For us to receive a referral, call Veterans Affairs and say, ‘actually, they found a community psychologist that they’ll follow up with,” she says. “I would chart that, close the file, and that would be the end.”
Tofflemire says, though the VAC caseworker was still looking at options for psychiatrists, without further direction from the caseworker, Tofflemire put Desmond’s file on indefinite hold.
