(Trinidad Express) Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) team has submitted its report to the Health Ministry following its investigation of newborn deaths at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the Port of Spain General Hospital (PoSGH).
The Health Ministry issued a release yesterday stating it received the report last Friday on June 21.
The ministry stated that, having received the report, clinical and technical staff of both the Health Ministry and the North West Regional Health Authority (NWRHA) will conduct an internal review of the findings in keeping with established standard practice.
Following the completion of the internal review, the entire report as submitted, will be made public, the ministry stated.
On its website, PAHO stated that their investigation included an in-country review, conducted during April 22 to 26, which was led by international experts in infection prevention and control, epidemiology, microbiology and newborn intensive care.
In April this year the Health Ministry announced that three foreign experts started the probe into the bacterial outbreak.
The PAHO team consisted of:
Dr Nalini Singh MD, MPH. Professor emeritus-in-residence, professor of paediatrics, Global Health and Epidemiology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA;
Dr Grisel Rodriguez MD, PH. Clinical microbiologist, head of Microbiology, Centro de Asistencia Medica Soriano. Expert in IPC, AMS. PAHO international consultant based in Uruguay;
Dr Gillian Birchwood, MD. Newborn intensive care specialist and head of the Neonatal Care Intensive Unit at the QEH, Barbados.
According to PAHO, the review team applied a systematic approach, reviewing the multiple processes and procedures that impact the quality of services.
“The methodology used included on-site visits, discussions with healthcare workers, review and analysis of data, and the utilisation of standardised and validated questionnaires to deliver evidence-based recommendations,” PAHO stated.
It added that previous to the submission of the final report, the team of international experts provided immediate/short-term, medium and long-term recommendations to senior management representatives of the Health Ministry and the NWRHA on April 26.
PAHO stated that the final report of the mission was provided to the Health Minister on June 21, including final recommendations.
PAHO/WHO (World Health Organisation) stated that it remains committed to providing ongoing technical support to the Ministry of Health, as requested, including facilitating the implementation of the recommendations provided.
It stated further that PAHO/WHO routinely conducts assessments of infection prevention control measures and other aspects of health system delivery to assist its member states in enhancing overall health services, based on international standards.
This continued assistance underscores PAHO/WHO’s dedication to fostering sustainable improvements in healthcare delivery and patient outcomes, stated PAHO.
