Manitoba seeing jump in critical incidents

A Manitoba hospital is pictured in an undated image. (Source: CTV Winnipeg)

The number of critical incident at Manitoba hospitals shot up in 2023, with one expert attributing the upward trend to staffing shortages.

According to new reports from Manitoba Health, there were 112 critical incidents in the first nine months of last year – 22 of which resulted in death.

This marks a 23 per cent increase of critical incidents compared to the same period in 2022; however, the number of deaths was relatively unchanged.

Jason Linklater, president of the Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals, said he’s not surprised to see this upward trend, but he is concerned by it.

"It’s actually what we predicted would happen, simply related to the staffing levels we see throughout the system,” Linklater said in an interview on Tuesday.

He noted that these reports highlight the fact that Manitoba is in a staffing crisis, which can lead to dangerous situations for patients and frontline workers.

“I heard from one of our members who worked 96 hours straight over the Easter weekend, because there was no one else to do that work,” he said. “That’s not safe for anyone.”

Some of the critical incidents mentioned in the report were falls and delayed treatment. Another common was skin tissue breakdown, which Linklater said happens when a patient is left too long in one position.

The full reports can be found online. 

- With files from CTV’s Will Reimer.