Saskatchewan Union of Nurses president Tracy Zambory says the memo speaks to a greater issue of practitioners being "afraid to speak out."
The government will move Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) employees to the list of those protected by provincial whistleblower law following the leak of a memorandum raising concerns about the organization’s transparency.
Health Minister Jim Reiter says he’ll aim to introduce a bill widening the Public Interest Disclosure Act’s scope to more than 40,000 SHA staff and physicians this spring, following a weeklong push from the Opposition NDP on the heels of a “hush memo” they said was an attempt to censor health care workers.
That legislation currently protects employees of ministries and various other government institutions from reprisal for flagging abuses of power, but does not apply to SHA workers or employees of municipalities.
“There’s never been a directive from this government, from me or anyone else, trying to muzzle front line employees or trying to muzzle doctors,” Reiter said. “But if there’s even a perception of that, I think it’s important to send the right message,”
Last week the NDP Opposition revealed what they called a “hush memo” sent to senior doctors warning about “discordant messaging,” including recent comments made to the College of Physicians and Surgeons and the media.
NDP justice critic Nicole Sarauer said her party has become a conduit for worried health care workers who feel they would be reprimanded for raising issues internally.
“We try to be the voice of their concerns in the legislature, but whistleblower protection is supposed to allow people to come forward without receiving any sort of penalty,” Sarauer said.
Reiter and SHA chief medical health officer Susan Shaw challenged that claim last week, noting existing initiatives to report safety and health concerns within the SHA.
But Reiter indicated then that he might expand provincial whistleblower protections to SHA employees in light of the recent transition from 12 health regions to one provincial authority.
Saskatchewan Union of Nurses president Tracy Zambory said the memo speaks to a greater issue of practitioners being “afraid to speak out” on issues of concern, something members tell her “quite frequently.”
She wants her organization, which represents more 10,000 registered nurses in the province, and other stakeholders to be consulted before whistleblower protections are expanded.
“We are not interested in constant friction,” Zambory said. “We’re interested … when something goes wrong, we own it and we move forward to fix it.”
Saskatchewan Medical Association president Dr. Allan Woo said he was satisfied by a second memo sent by the SHA last week, which affirmed it “does not have a policy, nor has the SHA ever had any intent to restrict staff or physicians from exercising their right to free speech.”
“As long as that’s clear, that they’re not here to restrict physicians or practitioners from exercising their right to free speech, I think that’s as clear as it can get,” Woo said.
The memo also raised concerns about the SHA’s transparency, as it advised doctors to avoid putting information in meeting minutes “if you do not want to see it in the newspaper,” purportedly out of concern that patients’ personal information could be revealed.
Saskatchewan Access and Privacy Commissioner Ronald Kruzeniski said it’s good practice for employees to not include personal information in meeting minutes, but confirmed what many experts had said — that such information is usually redacted anyway, prior to being released.
“It’s good practice to not include that information. On the other hand, we all strive for a level of transparency in these institutions because they’re spending taxpayer dollars,” Kruzeniski said.
