‘Patient care is suffering’: David Swann

EDMONTON – The Alberta Liberals will continue their “fierce” fight to push the government for a judicial inquiry into allegations of physician intimidation because patient safety is at risk.

“I will be fighting for this as long as I’m an MLA,” said Dr. David Swann, who handed in his resignation letter as party leader this past weekend but still promises a “fierce,” unreserved fight.

Swann will remain interim leader until September, when a new leader is chosen. “This government doesn’t care about the damage it’s doing to public confidence. … Patient care is suffering today.”

Scott Pattison, spokesman for the Health Sciences Association, which represents 250 types of health-care workers, said at least two health workers quit Alberta Health Services to take jobs in the private sector late last year because of fear and intimidation.

One spoke out about an MRI machine in a cancer facility that had been mothballed because of lack of funding, Pattison said.

The other, with more than 20 years of experience in health care, wanted to speak up about long wait lists for care, but was told by health authority managers that if staff spoke out, they would lose their job, Pattison said.

He said after his union once put out a news statement about health-care problems, Alberta Health Services approached the association to see what could be done for them to deal with the problem internally in the future.

“They’re obviously trying to exert pressure on our organization,” Pattison said. “That’s the perception.”

Edmonton anesthesiologist Dr. Abilio Nunes, who says his mental health was questioned and his job put at risk when he spoke out about not getting enough surgical information about a specific patient, said only a judicial inquiry can figure out the mistakes of the past so they don’t happen in the future.

Nunes said Alberta Health Services has created a committee to look into the issue of intimidation and will be releasing a report soon. But that committee, on which Nunes sits, isn’t reviewing past problems.

Edmonton Journal