Probe to be completed within seven days

Jan 04, 2010 News

Linden Hospital maternal death…

– Dr. Ramsammy

The Ministry of Health has launched “a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of maternal patient Tricia Winth, and officials should know within seven days if negligence by staffers caused her demise.
Health Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy made this disclosure yesterday, while also speaking about conditions at the Linden Hospital Complex.
According to the health Minister, the investigation should be completed within seven days.
When asked about the fact the operating theater at the complex was not functioning, Dr. Ramsammy said that staff were in the process of removing the equipment from the old hospital building into the newly constructed hospital complex.

Dead: Tricia Winth

He said that after the equipment is transferred into the new building it would then take two weeks for the equipment to be sterilized.
Minister Ramsammy further stated that the new operating theater is now fully functional.
The relatives of the dead woman had cited the poor medical response and a non-functioning Operating Theatre at the spanking new Linden Hospital Complex were the main contributing factors of the death of 35-year-old Tricia Winth and her unborn baby.
She died on Sunday; six hours after she was admitted for the delivery of what would have been her fourth child.
Her husband, Eusibio Winth, had told this newspaper that his wife went to the hospital at around 7:30 am on Sunday in severe pain.
According to the man, his wife who was hypertensive, could hardly walk and was suffering spells of headache when she arrived at the hospital.
Upon arrival there, she was examined by nurses who reportedly told her that she was not ready to deliver after examining her.
Eusibio Winth related that while in hospital, his wife’s pressure kept fluctuating and nobody took the time to summon a doctor.
The doctor was eventually summoned some four hours later, but by that time, Tricia Winth began suffering from seizures.
This newspaper was told that the doctor who turned up informed that although he was not officially on call, he would have made himself available if he was contacted earlier.
By then a normal delivery was ruled out even as medical personnel battled to control the woman’s blood pressure.
To compound matters the Operating Theatre at the billion-dollar hospital was inoperable, putting an end to any plans to perform caesarian section to deliver the baby.

Dead: Salima Ram

Eusibio Winth told this newspaper that the doctor tried his best but his efforts were not enough to save the lives of his wife and her baby.
Meanwhile, Dr Ravi Persaud the Medical Superintendent for the West Demerara Regional Hospital says that the investigation into the death of 32-year-old Salima Ram is expected to be completed on Wednesday.
He said that the post mortem which was completed earlier last did not indicate whether malpractice was a contributing factor for the woman’s death.
He further noted that a copy of the findings in the investigation would be made public.
The woman was pronounced dead by doctors on Tuesday after she collapsed in the maternity ward of the hospital.
Reports are that the woman, overwhelmed with pain, was attempting to find nurses manning the ward to inform them that her baby was ready to be delivered. She collapsed before reaching them.
This newspaper understands that although it was quite a task for the woman to get medical attention, despite her many cries of intense pain, she received medical help in abundance after she collapsed.