Health Minister concerned that second theatre was inoperable
HEALTH Minister Dr. Bheri Ramsaran on Wednesday told reporters that the maternal death which occurred at the Georgetown Public Hospital is being investigated internally, even as moves are afoot to have an expert committee activated that will independently look into the circumstances surrounding the incident.The minister said that based on reports he has seen which are thus far not challenged by the Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Shamdeo Persaud, a second theatre not being ready to accommodate the mother and the unborn child is very upsetting, and if the investigations prove that to be true, then certain actions.
Ramsaran said that the ministry does has taken note of the many comments in the past about penalties levelled against persons who may have erred in similar cases, and those will be considered in the ongoing investigation.
He said that the hospital is not going to investigate itself, hence the decision by the ministry to have an expert team activated so that the independent investigation can commence.
The minister said that the reporting of the death was done in the stipulated time and to the persons who are to be informed when such developments take place. On , Chief Executive Officer of the Georgetown Public Hospital, Michael Khan, met with the relatives of the deceased according to the minister.
The Minister admitted that already there are conflicting reports with respect to the death of the mother and child.
Meanwhile contacted yesterday afternoon, the father of the dead woman said that he was present at the meeting that they had with personnel from the hospital and that the Chief Executive Officer Michael Kahn was not part of the meeting.
The man said that the doctors asked them certain questions about his daughter and they answered and when it was time for the doctors to answer questions pertaining to death of the woman, they could not give any proper response.
For example, he said that they asked what caused the woman and her child to die and they were not give a proper answer.
According to the woman’s father, the doctors informed relatives that all the media reports on the death were false and sensationalised.
(By Leroy Smith)