Stories of doctors and health workers being intimidated for speaking out about problems in our health system underpinned an historic call by leaders of four opposition parties for a public inquiry today.
“We have to know whether or not health staff or professionals were subject to intimidation, retribution or discipline or attacks on their reputation personal or professional in order to prevent them from speaking out on behalf of their patients and on behalf of effective health care in the province,” said NDP Leader Brian Mason at the joint news conference.
United Nurses of Alberta says an inquiry could help a great deal if it frees health professionals to advocate.
“Nurses face this daily in our worksites, pressure to keep silent about less than desirable patient care conditions,” says UNA President Heather Smith.
“Intimidation is not new to nurses. We are fortunate in that we have a union and rights guaranteed in our agreement so that we can advocate for good care. It's a lot tougher to silence advocates when they have a union behind them,” she said
The leaders talked about ongoing government efforts to muzzle health professionals and prevent them from speaking out. They also mentioned the restrictive Alberta Health Services Code of Conduct, which has since been changed.
The politicians agreed to the joint news conference after they learned that details were coming out about the court case of thoracic surgeon Dr. Ciaran McNamee. Among other things the court documents show McNamee was apparently intimidated after appearing before the government Conservative caucus appealing for more support for the health system.
Court records show McNamee was sent a letter by Capital Health telling him his advocacy would no longer be tolerated”. Yesterday, Premier Ed Stelmach announced the Health Quality Council would do an investigation into the 322 cases of problems that Dr. Raj Sherman tabled in the Legislature, but the opposition leaders said it was inadequate.
“With the increasing information we've been getting, it's quite clear to me that this needs to go much deeper,” Dr. David Swann said.
Alberta Party leader Sue Huff said that in Alberta there is such a lack of transparency that “the public is rarely allowed to understand what's going on. A public inquiry is the only way to get to the truth.”
They also said the inquiry must be public and provide immunity for witnesses.
“We also need to know whether or not professional bodies including the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Alberta Medical Association, the Health Authorities and faculties of medicine may have been involved in these attempts to prevent people from speaking out.”
The court documents from the Dr. Ciaran McNamee case showed he was investigated for mental health issues after he spoke out and Dr. Sherman said he recently was treated the same way.
The two cases are “eerily similar,” said Mason. “Those parallels to me are overwhelming.”
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