System racism - the Sinclair's case

Two incidents were mentioned in Boyer (2017), but I will talk about Sinclair's case because that happened at the hospital where I worked a year after the incident; this incident has always been impactful to my practice as a healthcare worker.

Mr. Brian Sinclair was a 45-year-old indigenous man. On the afternoon of September 19, 2008, Sinclair was referred by a community healthcare center to the emergency room at Health Sciences Centre Winnipeg to seek help with a catheter change. The medical staff saw Sinclair but ignored him because they assumed he was homeless, intoxicated, or just hanging around. Sinclair was sitting in his wheelchair in the emergency room, received no medical attention, and died 36 hours later (Boyer, 2017).

The Brian Sinclair Working Group (the 'working group') was formed after the incident. The working group urges the federal, provincial, and territorial governments to implement explicit anti-racist policies and strategies. These policies shall include specific actions, remediation and support to assist systems, healthcare workers, and administrators. The Brian Sinclair Working Group (2017) has released interim recommendations to address racism within the healthcare system and improve the care of indigenous patients. The working group also recommends that unions, nursing and medical professional organization issue unequivocal position statements of zero tolerance for racism in the workplace. All health professional schools must adopt an anti-racism curriculum and share best practices about curriculum development, emphasizing cultural safety for First Nations, Metis and Inuit communities.

CBC News (2017) reported this incident which covered the details of the incident and raised awareness of anti-racism in the healthcare system.

This tragedy reminds me that we, as human beings, might judge the book by its cover. Our unconscious bias could affect the way we interact with others. However, as healthcare workers, we should treat people fairly, with compassion and empathy, and always ensure to provide our best care practice.

References:

Boyer, Y. (2017). Healing racism in Canadian health care. CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal, 189(46), E1408. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.171234

CBC news. (2017). Ignored to death: Brian Sinclair's death caused by racism, inquest inadequate, the group says. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/winnipeg-brian-sinclair-report-1.4295996

The Brian Sinclair Working Group. (2017). Out of Sight. https://libguides.lib.umanitoba.ca/ld.php?content_id=33973085