Wyant appointed to Sinclair inquest

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This article was published 13/02/2009 (6441 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba’s top provincial court judge will head up the inquest into the death of a disabled man at a Winnipeg hospital emergency room.

Chief Judge Ray Wyant announced today that he will preside over the inquest into the death of Brian Sinclair. Sinclair died last Sept. 21 at the Health Sciences Centre of complications from a blocked catheter. He had been at the ER for more than 30 hours.

The speed of which Wyant appointed himself caught many off-guard. In most cases it takes months if not years for judges to be assigned to inquests.

In a release Wyant said a date for the inquest has not been set.

“Once inquest counsel is appointed by the Crown, steps will be taken toward the scheduling of a standing hearing, the assembling of the necessary documentation and the development of a witness list,” the statement said.

The inquest will determine the circumstances under which Sinclair’s died and what, if anything, can be done to prevent similar deaths from occurring in the future.

It will also look at the reasons for delay in treating patients presenting in emergency departments of Winnipeg hospitals and measures necessary to reduce the delays in treating patients in emergency departments.

Under Manitoba’s Fatality Inquiries Act, Wyant cannot express any opinion or make a determination with respect to who was at fault for Sinclair’s death.

Progressive Conservative leader Hugh McFadyen said he welcomed Wyant’s swift action.

McFadyen said the timely release of information is needed to restore public confidence in the health system.

McFadyen said earlier this week Premier Gay Doer should recall the legislature to give opposition MLAs the opportunity to question Health Minister Theresa Oswald and health officials over their handling of Sinclair’s death.

At issue is whether the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority should release its administrative review into the circumstances of Sinclair’s death before the inquest. The WRHA has so far stood by legal advice that releasing even an edited version would violate privacy laws even though many details, such as Sinclair’s personal health history and how he died, are well known.

Critics say the disclosure of the review would show how long WRHA officials knew Sinclair had approached the triage desk for care but continued to leave the public with the impression he hadn’t done so.

For months, health officials maintained Sinclair never approached the HSC triage desk for care and was not registered in the queue to see a physician.

Health officials only changed their story last week when Manitoba’s chief medical examiner, Dr. Thambirajah Balachandra, revealed that hospital security videos show Sinclair wheeled to the triage desk when he first arrived at the inner-city ER.

bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca