WRHA president's staff note about Brian Sinclair inquest

This morning, the Inquest into the tragic death of Brian Sinclair in the Emergency Department (ED) of Health Sciences Centre (HSC) started, and its expected the Inquest will continue well into the New Year.

Mr. Sinclairs death was preventable. He came to us seeking care, and we failed him. His death identified a gap in the way HSCs ED functioned at that time, a gap that missed an individual seeking care, leaving him untriaged and ultimately resulting in his death.

Weve apologized to his family, and did so again this morning. We are committed to participating fully in the Inquest, and look forward to receiving its recommendations.

This is going to be a very difficult time for Mr. Sinclairs family who have waited five years for this Inquest.

Its also going to be a difficult time for many of us: for those of us who were on duty during the time Mr. Sinclair died, for those who knew and provided care for him throughout the years he received health services from us, and for those of us participating in the Inquest.

As many of you know, weve implemented several changes to address issues we identified immediately following Mr. Sinclairs death.

Patients entering HSCs ED are now better greeted, identified, and tracked. Once in the waiting room, everyone there patients, their family members and friends - are checked regularly to ensure we know who is there and why. Weve also clarified with all staff in the department exactly what their roles and responsibilities are.

As well, primary care clinics sending patients directly to an ED are now expected to call ahead and let the doctors and nurses know a patient is on their way.

Addressing the needs of our patients and residents is our number one priority.

But when we make mistakes, its important we own up to it, investigate it, and make changes to improve the system. Continuous improvement in all health care systems is based on learning from what goes wrong so we can build a better, safer system.

Each of us comes to work each day to help people from delivering babies, to saving car crash victims, to caring for residents needing assistance with everyday life. We need to be proud of our many accomplishments. We also need to continue treating our patients and residents as we would like to be treated.

As the Inquest unfolds, we are committed to sharing as much information with you as possible so we can all learn and improve. If you have any questions or concerns, please talk to your manager or send me an email.

Sincerely,

Arlene Wilgosh, President & CEO