(Trinidad Guardian) Three Pan American Health Organization experts, who have been selected to probe the deaths of babies at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital, have arrived in the country and already engaged North West Regional Health Authority (NWRHA) officials as part of their initial investigation.
This was revealed by NWRHA CEO Anthony Blake during a media conference at the Ministry of Health headquarters in Port-of-Spain yesterday.
“Our commitment to transparency and accountability remains unwavering throughout this process. This morning, the management team of the NWRHA would have met with the investigation team from the Pan American Health Organization. Yes, PAHO is here, they would have come in the country last night, that investigation team, and would have swiftly moved to meet with the management of the NWRHA.”
Blake said several matters were discussed during the meeting with PAHO officials, including the scope of reference for the investigation, “and to request from the North West Regional Health Authority relevant documents and to schedule interviews.”
“And I want to say that we are committed to providing PAHO with all the information they need and access to all the relevant persons in terms of interviews moving forward,” he said.
Asked to name the PAHO officials, Blake indicated he was unable to do so.
The PAHO officials will also be liaising with experts around the world virtually on the matter as part of their process.
Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh also made it clear that he will not be involved in the inquiry.
“The Minister of Health did not meet with PAHO, the technical people met with PAHO. I, as minister, will not be getting involved in the investigation, so no one can say that the Minister inserted himself into the investigation,” Deyalsingh said.
“PAHO is doing an independent investigation, having been invited by the Ministry of Health through the office of the Chief Medical Officer, who is the focal point for PAHO, so I have no role in either meeting with them at the airport, talking to them, I will not be meeting with them.”
Deyalsingh also warned against the publication of the PAHO report prematurely.
“The report has to be read, it has to be vetted by the legal officers. I cannot give you a commitment now that it will be made public and I will give you an analogy, when the report for the Lifesport programme under Anil Roberts and the honourable Kamla Persad-Bissessar came out, it pointed to significant criminal charges to be laid and you know why no criminal charges were laid, because Kamla Persad-Bissessar made the report public in the Parliament too soon, so nobody could have been held accountable.”
Deyalsingh, who extended condolences to the families of the dead babies, also maintained the investigation will not be rushed.
“It will take as long as it ought to take to have a complete, thorough, transparent investigation. I, as minister, will not be putting a time frame on it.”
He also dismissed claims that the source of the infectious bacteria which claimed the babies’ lives emanated from a private institution. He cautioned that such inaccuracies could impact operations at the medical institutions.
“We have 92 NICU beds across our public healthcare system, the private sector has two, which they only developed recently. The reason why I am saying this is that in addressing some of the unfortunate reporting, it was said a possible source of the infection was from a private facility, Sanjivani. May I state here, now, categorically, we have received no babies from that institution and that is why I say if we don’t treat with this issue, it has the potential of affecting private sector operations.”
Deyalsingh also rubbished claims that St Clair Medical was named in the public domain as the source of the infection.
Following the incident, the head of Infection Prevention and Control at the NWRHA, Dr Darrel Jones, was sent on administrative leave following the outcome of the parallel investigations.
Yesterday, Deyalsingh confirmed that no other NWRHA official had since faced any action.
During the opening of the Sangre Grande Hospital Campus last week, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley assured that Government would leave no stone unturned in an investigation into the deaths of the babies. He further stated that he was also looking forward to the findings of PAHO’s independent investigation.
The parents of at least seven babies who died between April 2 and April 9 at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the PoSGH have called for a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding their babies’ deaths. The babies, all under 32 weeks old, died from sepsis.
The parents have also initiated legal action against the NWRHA as they demand answers.
