Ms. Oswald failed us all

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/02/2009 (6443 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE public has been badly misinformed of the facts surrounding the death of Brian Sinclair, a disabled man who spent 34 hours dying in his wheelchair in the waiting room at the Health Sci­ences Centre’s ER. Officials more directly involved have released misleading details, making the minis­ter of health the public’s last refuge of accountability.  Theresa Oswald failed in that duty to Manitobans.

Ms. Oswald had ample opportunity to give the public basic details of his death. She was peppered with questions in the house in September, after Mr. Sinclair’s death became known through a media leak. She and

Premier Gary Doer said the homeless man, a double amputee with a speech impediment, did not make it to the triage desk and so was not registered as needing medical care. This repeated information from senior officials of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority. In October, however, Ms. Oswald knew an administrative review conducted by the WRHA found Mr. Sinclair had gone to the triage desk when he arrived on Sept. 19.

The public did not learn of this until last week when Dr. Thambirajah Balachandra, Manitoba’s chief medical examiner, revealed that a security camera showed Mr. Sinclair was pushed in his wheelchair to the triage desk, where he then spoke with a triage aide. The WRHA eventually conceded the man, who subsequently died of an infection from a blocked catheter, did what was required of him to get medical care. Further, Dr. Balachandra noted, when he began vomiting in the waiting room, security staff tried to get medical attention for him.

The lack of forthright answers from the WRHA has compounded a growing public outrage and distrust. Dr. Brian Postl, president of the WRHA, and Dr. Brock Wright, the WRHA’s chief spokesman, were given a vote of confidence yesterday by their board of directors, ostensibly the community’s voice. No one has been asked to resign in this scandal.

Ultimately, Manitobans’ trust rests at the door of the minister of health. Ms. Oswald, however, made no effort to correct inaccurate details she and the premier put on the record in the house. This while she was lecturing opposition members about rumours and gossip that proved incorrect about Mr. Sinclair’s fatal visit to the ER: "…what I’m mostly concerned about … is that factual information comes to the floor (of the house)," she is recorded as saying in September. In November, she lectured Tory health critic Myrna Driedger about living in the 1990s, when "hide and cover up" ruled the medical culture as it related to medical errors: "We’re open on this side of the house. We’re going to get to the bottom of what happened in this terrible tragedy…"

Ms. Oswald now prefers to leave the critical details of what happened to an inquest that has yet to be scheduled. The minister has failed in her duty to Manitobans, which includes accountability for medical mishaps that cast doubt on the quality of health care. The minister must apologize, and correct the record in the house or resign. Ms. Oswald must now release the administrative review of Brian Sinclair’s last hours alive, allowing Manitobans to assess for themselves the actions of HSC staff, independent of the censored versions of public officials.