News

Newfoundland and Labrador's health minister, who came under a barrage of criticism for his handling of the province's botched breast cancer testing scandal, was bumped to a more junior cabinet position Thursday ahead of an anticipated update on the number of patients affected by testing errors.

Ross Wiseman was dogged by controversy soon after his appointment as health minister in January 2007. Within months, he found himself dealing with the fallout of the province's biggest public health failure when it was revealed that nearly 400 people were given mistaken results on their breast cancer tests from 1997 to 2005.

But Premier Danny Williams defended Mr. Wiseman's record, saying there was no other member of his government he'd rather have as minister of health during such a turbulent time.

“Wrongfully, the minister has taken it on the chin sometimes for problems, of course, that were not caused by him during his term,” Mr. Williams said after appointing Mr. Wiseman to lead business and trading portfolios with Paul Oram.

“I think it's time for a rest for Minister Wiseman ... not that the Department of Business does nothing, but to come from the Department of Health to the Department of Business at least takes him out of that public health profile.”

Mr. Wiseman said the province's health care system will be stronger because of the lessons learned from the breast cancer testing scandal, acknowledging that his time at the helm was difficult.

“It was a challenging time to navigate ourselves through that,” he said.

The shuffle is the latest move intended to rebuild public confidence in the province's health care system.

Last month, a new CEO took over for Eastern Health, the health board at the centre of the botched breast cancer testing scandal. That came three months after Madam Justice Margaret Cameron concluded in a public inquiry into the flawed tests that Mr. Wiseman didn't exercise enough due diligence in his role as health minister.

“I think now from the perspective of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, now we're going to just usher in a new era,” Mr. Williams said.

Provincial health officials are expected to soon provide an update on the number of patients whose breast cancer tests were botched. Mr. Wiseman said the cabinet shuffle pre-empted that announcement.

As of March 2008, 108 patients whose tests were botched were dead. But it may never be known how many of them died as a result of missing out on treatment because of erroneous test results.

Mr. Wiseman's departure from health was a necessary step to restore faith in the provincial health care system, New Democrat Leader Lorraine Michael said.

“It is long overdue,” Ms. Michael said.

“One of the things with Minister Wiseman that always disturbed me was his absolute refusal to acknowledge that we have major systemic problems, although some of them had been identified through the Cameron inquiry.”

Liberal Leader Yvonne Jones agreed that Mr. Wiseman should have been shuffled out of health sooner.

“It should've been done months ago,” Ms. Jones said.

“People have confidence out there in their nurses and in their doctors, but they've not had a lot of confidence in the management and the leadership.”

The cabinet shuffle is Mr. Williams's third in less than a year.