Saskatchewan hospital safety review complete, but findings won’t be released yet

Detailed summary

The six-month review is now in the health ministry's hands, but Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill says he does not want to expose vulnerabilities until they are addressed.

Saskatchewan’s health minister says the independent safety review commissioned by the province earlier this year is now complete, but will not be shared publicly until the ministry addresses its recommendations.

Jeremy Cockrill said Thursday that there is work to be done between the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) and the Ministry of Health to review some of the “immediate pressures” identified in the report and to work with facilities to implement them.

“I don’t want to put a report out there that may share vulnerabilities that both are there for staff and patients in health care facilities,” said Cockrill at an unrelated press conference in North Battleford, Sask.

The Health Ministry announced in January it was launching a review into hospital safety at the request of the SHA following a string of violent incidents and mounting concerns at facilities across the province.

In May, the province announced it had contracted Buckingham Security Services Ltd. to conduct the six-month review, under the leadership of executive director and former Saskatoon police chief Clive Weighill.

Cockrill said he met with the contracted firm earlier this week for the first time since the report was finalized, adding it did a “really fantastic job” evaluating the current safety status of health care facilities and future opportunities.

The finished review now presents the province with an opportunity to accelerate the work needed to address vulnerabilities, Cockrill said.

“So we’ll be having some discussions with both the ministry and the Saskatchewan Health Authority and many of our site leads right around the province and health care facilities to say, ‘Hey, this specific item was addressed in this facility; this needs to get dealt with in the next 30 days.'”

The review was expected to involve around 30 people and cost the province $1 million, according to the health ministry.

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