Hospital says no need for probe into Dr Fox’s death

Dec 19, 2009 News

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“Pathologist confirmed that there was no evidence to suggest negligence on the part of the hospital staff,” Dr Rambaran

Director of Medical and Professional Services at the Georgetown Public Hospital, Dr Madan Rambaran, says that the call by the Leader of the People’s National Congress Reform to probe the death of the late Minister within the Ministry of Education, Dr Desrey Fox, is unwarranted.
Dr Rambaran denied that there was any case of negligence in the treatment of the Minister at the medical institution and as such there will be no probe.
He added that Corbin’s comment was seemingly politically motivated and as such suggested that the issue of his call for a probe be dealt with by the subject Minister.
Corbin, in a call, following the funeral of the late Minister recently, said that the occasion was not the appropriate time to raise the matter surrounding her death, however, the Guyanese people need to be informed whether her death was a result of the accident alone or whether there were any intervening events such as professional negligence at the Georgetown Hospital that contributed to her sudden death.
He pointed out that Guyanese were informed that her condition was stable, “Why then did she die?”
According to Corbin, she was a serving Minister of the Government and one would have expected that there would have been special attention given to her, particularly in the context of several previous reports of treatment meted out to patients at the Georgetown Public Hospital.
He stated that it was known that the Minister had broken bones and, “I have been advised by competent medical professionals that in any such situation it should have been known that the possibility of further injuries to her lungs while in hospital was possible. Preventive steps should have been taken.”
Corbin added that he was advised that it took several days before she was taken into the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) where her medical condition could have been properly monitored and action taken if the need arose.
“The fact that she was only transferred to the ICU on the very day she died begs the question, why so late…was there professional negligence?”
A point to note also is that when Corbin took ill recently with chest pains, he was immediately flown to the USA and treated at more than one hospitals at the expense of the state and it was subsequently revealed that he was treated for a malfunctioning digestive system and a dysfunctional gallbladder
According the Opposition leader, the matter, namely her death while hospitalised, “has serious implications for the service that Guyanese expect from this Government institution. If a Minister of Government is treated in this manner, what can ordinary Guyanese expect?”
Corbin said, “However painful it is, we cannot afford to sweep this matter under the carpet as has been done with many similar reports of incidents at the Georgetown Hospital.”
He said that he hoped the relatives of Dr. Desrey Fox and Guyanese generally, also demand, a thorough investigation into the matter.
“Any self respecting Government ought not to evade the discovery of the truth surrounding the death of a serving Minister of the Cabinet.”
Health Minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy, said that he has noted the call by Corbin and is adamant that any death is important to the Ministry of Health and to the GPHC.
“We would hope that anyone who comes to our health facilities because of illness or injuries is treated successfully.”
He said that the institution recognises the fact that there are often high profile cases that would attract more attention than others but that does not mean that persons who do not attract public attention must be treated with any less care.
“We at the Ministry of Health and the GPHC want to assure everyone that we provide care to the best of our ability to everyone that comes to the hospital, regardless of what their position in society might be, rich or poor, people in power or not. In spite of this policy we are not unaware that the public’s eye would be on us when high profile persons need our care.”
He stated that this was the case when Minister Dr Fox went to the hospital after suffering injuries in the traffic accident.
“The Ministry of Health is satisfied that the GPHC acted in a manner that was appropriate for the injuries Minister Fox sustained.’
The Minister pointed out that he was not going to engage in the technical discussion of what took place at the hospital at this time but stated that he was there at the hospital and many other prominent persons were present for various periods of time from the admission of Dr Fox to her unfortunate death.
“I believe it would be difficult for anyone to make a case that the hospital was not providing round the clock care to Minister Fox. Consultants and other caregivers were present at all times during her stay at the hospital and until her death. All investigations necessary and available in Guyana were done and clinical decisions were based on the results of these investigations.”
According to Dr Ramsammy, preliminary diagnosis was made and that was added to results of new investigations.
He stated that GPHC, as is normal for deaths that occur in these circumstances, did its own clinical audit of the case of Dr Fox.
“The Standard Operating Procedure of the GPHC requires such an internal audit to be done for deaths that occur in circumstances such as that of Minister Fox. The internal audit was presented to the Board of the Hospital last Monday, at the regular meeting of the Board and the Board was satisfied that the GPHC professionally did all that was necessary under the circumstances.”
Dr Ramsammy added that the post mortem conducted last Friday by a pathologist confirmed that there was no evidence to suggest negligence on the part of the hospital staff.
The Ministry of Health, through the Chief Medical Officer’s office, will conduct its own investigation in this case.
“If this investigation is in variance with the hospital’s internal investigation, we will initiate an external investigation. Mr. Corbin has unfortunately been badly advised on this matter and his unfortunate intervention smacks of playing politics,” said Dr Ramsammy.
He said that they are satisfied that the staff of the GPHC tried its best and provided quality care to Dr  Fox and that everyone worked diligently and was hoping that she would recover.
“If there was something else that could have been done under the circumstances we would have done so.”
Guyanese and international colleagues were left in shock last week Friday, after the Minister died.
The Minister passed away shortly after 03:00hrs on Friday December 11, last, while she was still receiving medical attention at the Georgetown Public Hospital.
Dr Fox was a victim in an accident on December 8 at the junction of J.B Singh Public Road and Thomas Road. That accident involved her motor vehicle, PKK 8875, and an ambulance.
At the time of the accident, the ambulance was responding to an emergency call that a man had fallen off a scaffold at Victoria, East Coast Demerara.

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