Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh has confirmed that the three-member PAHO team investigating the deaths of babies at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit have begun interviewing officials key to the probe.
Speaking with members of the media yesterday at the Caricom Regional Cricket Conference at the Hyatt Regency, the minister said the team visited the NICU.
“They would have visited the Neonatal intensive Care Unit at Port-of-Spain, they would have interviewed persons and that is where they are as far as I know right now,” he said.
The Pan American Health Organization team comprises Dr Nalini Singh, MPH Professor Emeritus-in-residence, Professor of Paediatrics, Global Health and Epidemiology, the George Washington University, Washington DC, USA; Dr Grisel Rodriguez, PH Clinical Microbiologist, Head of Microbiology, Centro de Asistencia Medica Soriano and Dr Gillian Birchwood, Newborn Intensive Care Specialist and Head of the Neonatal Care Intensive Unit at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Barbados. The team arrived on Sunday and subsequently conducted discussions with North West Regional Health Authority officials.
The babies, all under 32 weeks, died from neonatal sepsis, a bacterial infection. The NWRHA is now facing a class action lawsuit over the deaths of the babies. The parents are being represented by the head of the Freedom Law Chamber, Anand Ramlogan, SC.
The NWRHA has recognised the deaths of seven infants who died from April 4 to 9 at the NICU.
As of yesterday, the parents of 22 babies have come forward demanding a full investigation into the circumstances of their deaths at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital NICU and two other health facilities.
Deyalsingh assured the findings of the PAHO probe will be revealed, despite allegations of an attempted cover-up at the hospital.
“The report will eventually be made public. What is going to happen with this report, if there are any questions for any individuals to answer, the rules of natural justice dictate that they be given an opportunity to answer before it is made public because if it is made public prematurely, you jeopardise any changes you may want to make.
“So the rules of natural justice means if anyone is named in the report and may need to answer questions they must have the ability to answer those questions but I give you the assurance that at some point in time, the report will be made public,” the minister assured. Meanwhile, a scheduled media tour yesterday of the NICU was cancelled hours after a pre-action protocol letter was issued by Freedom Law Chambers to the NWRHA. The legal correspondence challenged the timeliness of the exercise and the participation of interested parties.
“It is strange to say the least, that none of our clients whose babies died at the NICU, were invited to be part of this tour so that there could be some realistic balance to this one-sided event,” the letter stated.
The lawyers further contended that the proposed tour appeared to be “a public relations stunt that was designed to do political damage control by giving a biased view about the state and standard of care at the NICU.” There were also claims that efforts were made by staff to remove broken equipment and sanitise the haematology lab.
In a pre-action protocol letter issued yesterday threatening legal action against the NWRHA for its role in the death of another baby, attorneys commended the Ministry of Health for cancelling the media tour.
But Deyalsingh, however, lamented what appeared to be challenges in bringing clarity on the matter to the public.
“I even wanted to take the media into Couva and San Fernando (hospitals) but it now means he (Anand Ramlogan) is going to latch on to that as another issue. So, I don’t think they want the transparency they claim they want,” the minister said.