The Saskatchewan Health Authority offered Terry Wulff a position on an advisory board to help improve patient care.
Wulff met with the authority two months after he experienced “the grossest” situation in his life. On Nov. 5, Wulff was taken to the Royal University Hospital emergency department suffering from an urinary tract infection. He said he was given a container to urinate in, but after 40 minutes it was full.
He said he called for help to replace the container but nurses and doctors were “too busy.”
After a couple of hours Wulff reached for the full container and in his weakened state accidentally spilled it all over his body. He said he sat in own urine for three hours before he was attended to.
More than two months after the incident, Wulff and the Saskatchewan Health Authority met to discuss the situation.
“I wasn’t there for an apology, I was there to get something done,” Wulff told CTV News.
“Legal union reasons” prevented him from being told why the incident happened, but he told the SHA what happened to him was “strictly operational,” he said.
“[The hospital] doesn’t have support staff allocated correctly or [they] don’t have enough support staff,” he said.
The health authority then offered Wulff a spot on the Patient Family Advisory Council (PFAC), a committee with staff and advisors that help improve patient care.
“The advice received through PFAC groups in the province is incredibly valuable to the Saskatchewan Health Authority, and is used as a guide to support and build a health system that truly works for patients, families and residents,” the health authority said in an e-mail to CTV News.
After much deliberation Wulff accepted the offer, saying he wants to make positive changes.
“If I can save one person going through what I went through, I’ll feel happy.”
