Health-care union leaders blame staff shortages as critical incidents jump
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$1 per week for 24 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $4.00 plus GST every four weeks. After 24 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.00 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.75/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/04/2024 (563 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Chronic staff shortages in Manitoba’s health-care system are being blamed for a year-over-year spike in critical incidents in hospitals and other settings.
The death of an emergency-room patient who experienced a delay in treatment, a person who died by suicide while in care and surgery on the wrong body part were among 112 critical incidents, including 22 deaths, listed in three new quarterly reports released by the province Friday.
“The theme or the trend that I’m seeing is a lack of oversight on patients due to staffing shortages,” Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson said after reviewing the reports. “There are many instances of had there been enough staff to have proper oversight, then these issues would not have occurred.”
Jason Linklater, president of the Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals, said “it’s certain” many incidents were related to shortages.
“That can lead to dangerous situations for patients and front-line health-care professionals,” he said.
Delays, missed opportunities, errors or falls were among the most common factors in incidents that resulted in serious and unintended harm to patients.
Published online, the newest reports cover the first three quarters (Jan. 1-Sept. 30) of 2023. The total of 112 critical incidents was about 25 per cent higher than that of the same nine-month period in 2022. A similar number of deaths occurred.
The Q1-Q3 total in 2023 was roughly 15 per cent lower than that of 2021, when the COVID-19 pandemic put immense pressure on the health-care system and staff.
Critical incidents related to COVID-19 outbreaks in hospitals or personal-care homes were reported as groups in 2021 and 2022, the reports state.
Limited descriptions are given for each incident. Reports do not describe any measures taken to prevent similar deaths or injuries.
Names, specific medical conditions, dates, locations or other information that could identify patients or staff are withheld.
Shared Health previously released details of a February 2023 critical incident at HSC in which a man died while waiting for care in an ER hallway.
The overcrowded ER was dealing with a surge in patients. Recommendations intended to improve patient assessments and ease congestion were implemented.
In three other incidents at undisclosed locations, a patient died after a medical device failed, one died after falling from a transfer device and another died after a postponed elective surgery “resulted in a serious outcome.”
Of the non-fatal incidents, a client developed a skin wound that resulted in amputation, and a patient ended up in hospital after being given the wrong medication.
“We cannot afford to lose people while we’re figuring out how to solve the problem.”–Jason Linklater, president of the Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals
Jackson and Linklater said retention and recruitment of staff and improvements to working conditions must be prioritized during efforts to shore up health-care ranks.
“We cannot afford to lose people while we’re figuring out how to solve the problem,” said Linklater.
The NDP has promised to hire at least 1,000 more health workers this year and improve workplace culture in this, its first, term in office
“Patient safety is certainly a top priority for us as government, but we also know it’s the top priority of health-care workers on the front lines,” Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said at an unrelated event at HSC. “They want their patients to be as safe as possible. Everybody wants to see patients have the best possible outcomes.”
More mistakes occur when staff are working “overtime shift after overtime shift,” the minister added.
“Adding staffing at the bedside and on the front lines is going to help us stabilize some of those challenges that we’re seeing,” said Asagwara.
The government has also promised a new retention and recruitment office, more wellness supports and some incentives to retain staff.
Linklater said he would welcome more support for workplace safety committees.
The latest critical incident reports cover the final months of the previous Progressive Conservative government and part of the campaign leading up to October’s election. The Tories did not respond to a request for comment.
Investigations are required after critical incidents in a bid to prevent similar circumstances. The findings are to be shared within the health system.
“Recommendations come from those (investigations), that are then appointed to someone who ensures they get developed and implemented,” said Dr. Manon Pelletier, HSC’s chief medical officer. “Sometimes it’s an entire sitewide rollout of teachings, so it can take some time, but they do occur.
“All of those learnings go back to the unit where it occurred or to a larger site, depending on what the learning is from that event.”
Related Articles
HSC gets 50 more beds in NDP bid to cut ER wait times, improve patient flow
The province stopped publishing recommendations, or patient safety learning advisories, in 2019, when the PCs were in government.
The NDP is working on a new online format for critical incident reports and recommendations.
A provincial spokesperson said critical incident reports are now being posted within six months, rather than one year.
Linklater said the province can be more transparent, while protecting privacy, to help people understand critical incidents and hold the government and health authorities accountable.
chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca
Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris.
Every piece of reporting Chris produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.