Stories by SHALIZA HASSANALI
Senior Investigative Reporter
shaliza.hassanali@guardian.co.tt
Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh has confirmed that the Government will not foot the bill for the three-member Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) team’s investigation into the deaths of seven babies at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
Deyalsingh also again assured that once the full investigation was completed, its findings would be made public.
However, he stated that it may take a while for the final report to be handed in.
Deyalsingh made the comments prior to the commemoration of the opening of the Sangre Grande Hospital.
In a release on Friday, the Ministry of Health stated that the PAHO team, Prof Nalini Singh, a paediatrician from the George Washington University in the US; Dr Grisel Rodriguez, head of Microbiology at Centro de Asistencia Medica Soriano in Uruguay; and Dr Gillian Birchwood, a newborn intensive care specialist and head of the Neonatal Care Intensive Unit at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Barbados, had completed their investigation and met with ministry officials.
The probe stems from the deaths of the babies due to a bacterial infection at the NICU between April 4 and 9, according to NWRHA.
Since the issue was raised, however, other parents outside of the cluster have stepped forward claiming that their babies died because of negligence by staff at the PoSGH NICU. Parents have also made similar complaints about hospitals under two other regional health authorities.
Deyalsingh yesterday said that having completed the “in-country phase” of the investigation on Friday, the PAHO team met with officials of the ministry and the NWRHA to do a debriefing.
“What would happen now, as they have gone back to their territories, they will be requesting more data which can be sent electronically.”
That data, the minister said, would be analysed.
“Out of that analysis will come a final report which they will send to us in due course.”
Asked what was the cost attached to facilitate the investigation, Deyalsingh said, “There is no direct cost attached to this. Remember we pay a subscription fee to WHO (World Health Organization) and PAHO so this is part of their normal procedures.”
Asked if there was a stipulated timeline in which he expected the final report to be handed over to him, Deyalsingh said, “No deadline can be given to PAHO. It would take as long as it needs to take. But I mean it is not going to be forever. But we do expect something in a couple of months for the absolute latest ... if not earlier. I can’t give you a date.”
That report, he said, would go out in the public domain.
The minister said he was pleased that the three experts “got unfettered access to everything”, which included touring of the NICU and viewing of its equipment.
“Everything that they asked for has been made available to them. So I am happy for that.”
Health workers also cooperated with them.
Following the deaths, Deyalsingh said, the NWRHA also “took steps above and beyond their usual, normal cleaning cycles”.
“So that is what we did immediately. We reviewed all the protocols ... we retrained ... we just went back in and did everything that we were accustomed doing but more acutely.”
On Friday, Deyalsingh told the House of Representatives that the parents of the seven babies would receive independent counselling funded by the NWRHA.
Deyalsingh did not have a cost for this exercise and the number of parents who sought counselling.
“So you have to recognise with the pre-action protocol letter everything has to pass through the lawyers. So I am not directly involved in that. We will liaise with the parents through their legal representatives,” he said.