Health officials make changes in ER after patient dies waiting 34 hours

Winnipeg health officials are taking steps to improve the ER system following the death of a patient. (CBC) 

Winnipeg Regional Health Authority is making changes to ensure patients are properly monitored in city emergency rooms following the death of a man who sat 34 hours in a waiting room earlier this fall.

Brian Sinclair, 45, was found dead in an emergency department waiting room Sept. 21 after spending a day and a half waiting to see a doctor at Winnipeg's Health Sciences Centre. It was only when someone in the waiting room alerted hospital staff that Mr. Sinclair was found.

Sinclair was not assessed by a triage nurse and was not registered as a patient seeking care, so reassessment nurses didn't know he was there for help, officials with the health authority said at the time. He had been sent to the hospital by a local clinic after complaining of a kidney problem.

The WRHA said Wednesday no one at the health Sciences Centre was to blame for Sinclair's death, and no disciplinary action is being taken against any staff at the hospital. Still, changes have been made in the way patients who come into the emergency department are registered and monitored while they are waiting to be seen by emergency staff. "The circumstances surrounding the death of Mr. Sinclair are tragic, and we again extend our sympathies to his family and friends," Adam Topp, CEO of Winnipeg's Health Sciences Centre said Wednesday. "We are committed to making necessary changes to improve patient safety."

Following an autopsy, officials said Sinclair could have been saved by a catheter change and a course of antibiotics. An inquest has been called into the death by Manitoba's chief medical examiner.

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