The North West Regional Health Authority has agreed to pay the counselling fees for the parents of eight babies who died at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital Neonatal ICU (NICU).
In another pre-action protocol letter issued to the NWRHA yesterday by attorneys at Freedom Law Chambers, led by Anand Ramlogan, SC, the attorneys thanked the NWRHA for offering to pay the fees for psychologists to assess, treat and evaluate 16 parents (both mother and father of the eight babies). The attorneys also requested that the counselling be extended to other parents, who claimed their newborns also died at the PoSGH NICU.
The letter said, “We ask that a similar offer be made in respect of the remaining clients. We propose to use the same psychologist as a matter of convenience and to save cost.”
In the latest letter, the attorneys continue to widen the scope from just seven babies, now known as a cluster at the Port-of-Spain NICU to include, to date, 22 babies from three regional health authorities. So far, the list of clients includes 20 from Port-of-Spain General Hospital, one from Mt Hope Women’s Hospital and one from San Fernando General Hospital.
The infants, listed in the lawsuit, died between June 2022 to April 22 this year.
In a statement sent on April 19, the NWRHA said while tragic, the circumstances surrounding the deaths of babies at the Port-of-Spain NICU outside of the cluster in April, must be examined carefully and separately. The cluster the NWRHA said were those who died between April 4 and 9.
The decision by the NWRHA to pay for the counselling for 16 parents came a day after the attorneys called for the NWRHA to pay for independent doctors to review the medical records of the babies who died.
The attorneys said they were unable to source local doctors to review the notes, adding that the foreign doctors’ fees are US $5,000 per child.
“We expect that the NWRHA will be properly resourced with a battery of attorneys and medical experts and it is fair and just that our clients be given a fair chance and opportunity to pursue and vindicate their legal rights. To ensure that there is equality of arms in this legal matter, we are certain that the NWRHA would want to avoid the public perception that it is using public funds to ride roughshod over these victims by taking advantage of their lack of finances.
“Many of these mothers work for minimum wage as cleaners, cashiers, security guards and others are unemployed. They, therefore, cannot simply afford to retain an independent medical expert to review their medical records and to get their required expert reports,” the legal letter added.