A doctor and two nurses have been suspended from the New Amsterdam Hospital after the investigation into the deaths of Vanessa Lewis-Sahadeo and her baby last week found them to be negligent, Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony announced today.
During his daily COVID-19 update, Anthony said that based on the findings of the investigation, immediate steps were taken to suspend the doctor and nurses, who were found negligent.
“We have a stan ding committee called the Maternal Review Committee and they had the opportunity of going there on Sunday and they were able to interview everyone who were connected with the challenges that we had there and they have since issued a report and based on that report we strongly believe that the doctor who was in charge of the patient seemed to be negligent, and we also believe that the nurses who were involved were also negligent,” Anthony said.
As a result, he explained, he took immediate steps to suspend the doctor and the nurses. Additionally, he said there will be “some follow up actions” which will be announced later.
Lewis-Sahadeo, 31, succumbed at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) in the wee hours last Saturday morning, hours after being transferred from the New Amsterdam hospital where she had a stillbirth delivery.
Lewis-Sahadeo’s uncle, Joseph Lewis, told Stabroek News today that her family is happy to see some steps being taken but is awaiting a look at the report before decided on the next steps to be taken, including possible legal action.
However, the uncle said, “We satisfied that these people are not there to compromise the investigation or cause more negligence”.
He added, “We are happy that they are moving in the right direction.”
Further, Lewis stressed, that the family is also expecting that action is taken against those in authority, “You can’t blame the doctors solely; there must be some sort of discipline to the authority. Why is it the hospital lacks certain basic things? And that is the head hospital and you can’t get oxygen or medication!” the man said.
Meanwhile, Regional Chairman David Armogan during the region’s statutory meeting today, noted that the incident garnered national attention and sparked serious concerns at all levels, including that of President Irfaan Ali.
According to him, even if persons are to be held culpable, serious attention still needs to be paid to the hospital, especially after such cases. “Time is very important when it comes to these difficult cases,” he stressed.
According to Armogan, after news broke of Lewis-Sahadeo’s case the maternity ward “virtually became empty because people lost confidence in the maternity section.”
He continued, “As a result of that all those who were preparing to get baby they went away. I don’t know where they going and get the baby but they went away… A lot of them picked (up) their bags and walked and you can’t blame them… if they are scared, so we really need to put our house in order too I don’t want to cover up for anybody or to cover any system.”
He added that it must be ensured that this situation does not recur.
The chairman then pointed out that persons have been appointed in various positions in the region and they will be utilised to visit the various health institutions to ensure that they are functioning properly and whether there are any shortages. “I’m not saying that all is lost. Some things have improved but this is a situation that puts us in a real bad light. I don’t know that if this is something that could have been avoided but if it could have then it should have been avoided,” he added.
Armogan also stressed that President Ali has assured the family that following an investigation serious action will be taken against persons “who are culpable if there is any culpability involved.”
In terms of drugs and medical supplies at the various hospitals, Armogan told the council that this is also being looked at by the president. “So you can see from now a very drastic and a very serious improvement in the drug situation because it is being discussed at the highest level. Everybody understand the problem and now we are addressing the problem in a holistic way, so things will definitely improve.”
Armogan in closing expressed condolences on behalf of the Regional Democratic Council of Region Six to Lewis-Sahadeo’s relatives.
Armogan had visited the family. “We have to give them as much support as possible in the circumstances but at the end of this exercise if there is any evidence to show that persons have not done their duty in the way it was supposed to be done or if there was any carelessness or if there have been any misconduct, those persons will be dealt with,” Armogan said before news broke of the suspensions today.
