The report on the investigation ordered by President Bharrat Jagdeo into the treatment that late minister Dr Desrey Fox received at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) has been forwarded to the Office of the President following its completion.
Health Minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy, made the disclosure on Wednesday, but he declined to comment on the findings of the report, saying the President would make any public pronouncements. The report would also be submitted to Cabinet.
Ramsammy had indicated earlier that an independent panel, which included one private citizen, was selected to conduct the investigation. “I have not been in touch with any of them. In fact, I am deliberately not making contact because I am not supposed to,” he had commented.
The Jagdeo-ordered investigation fell outside the ministry’s purview, and it followed an earlier investigation carried out by the Health Ministry. The ministry had initiated its own probe and a report was submitted to Ramsammy. The report was not released, but the Minister had said he was satisfied with the response by the hospital staff.
President Jagdeo had last year ordered a probe into the treatment Fox received at the GPH saying that he did not understand how she died after sustaining some fractures. He had also stated that he was not satisfied with the initial report from the hospital.
Opposition Leader Robert Corbin had earlier also called for Guyanese to be told what caused the death of the minister though his concerns were swiftly dismissed by Ramsammy, who said that status did not determine the treatment offered by the hospital and had also expressed satisfaction with the hospital whose staff he said acted in a manner appropriate for the injuries.
Fox was admitted to the GPH on December 8 after she was tossed through the rear windscreen of her car following a three-vehicle smash-up in the city.
A female passenger, Andrea De Santos and a two-year-old child, Carlos Fox, who were also travelling in Fox’s car, were also admitted to the GPH. The minister was admitted to the High Dependency Unit of the hospital and was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit on December 11, hours before she succumbed to her injuries.
