Death of 11-month-old at Port Kaituma Hospital...Father details concerns about son’s death in official complaint to CMO

Death of 11-month-old at Port Kaituma Hospital…Father details concerns about son’s death in official complaint to CMO

Jun 03, 2015 News

An on-going investigation into the death of 11-month Reuel Albert, who died during the latter part of April at the Port Kaituma hospital, under reportedly questionable circumstances, is likely to be taken to another level.

Robin Albert and his now dead son in happier times

This is in light of the fact that the father of the dead child, Robin Albert, has made a formal complaint to Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr. Shamdeo Persaud.
Detailed in the complaint, which is currently in transit to the CMO’s Brickdam, Georgetown office, are a number of troubling developments leading up to the death of the child on April 28, 2015.
The man’s decision to author a written complaint was prompted by the disclosure of the CMO that there isn’t much he can report directly to the parents of the investigation unless a written complaint is sent to his office.
“If they wish for me to report on the investigation then they need to write me a formal complaint. If they don’t write me a formal complaint then I would quietly deal with it in-house and I won’t report to anyone,” the CMO stated during an interview with this publication.
According to Robin Albert, he was unable to deliver the complaint himself because he is currently seeking employment. He has been out of work since the death of his child. The man had taken time off from his mining job to be with his ailing child.
“Is like since me son dead me can’t bring me self to go back (to mining) so I looking for another work,” said the still emotional man who related that he is desperately trying to come to terms with the passing of his only child.
He anticipates that his complaint will arrive at the CMO’s office within two to four weeks.
Dr. Persaud speaking of the investigation into the child’s death said yesterday that the case is still engaging the attention of the Child Health Committee, which is tasked with investigating the deaths of children under five.
The parents of the child (Robin Albert and Onica Atkinson) who are residents of Port Kaituma, Region One, are convinced that the child’s death was a result of negligence on the part of the attending doctor.
The child was first seen at the Port Kaituma Hospital during the Easter holiday weekend and was treated for a cold.
According to Robin Albert when he returned from work in the interior, Atkinson, his reputed wife, told him that his only child had a severe cold and she had taken him to the hospital for treatment. Atkinson, who is also the mother of another child, had taken the sick boy to the Region One, Port Kaituma hospital after observing that he had a runny nose, red eyes and was constantly sneezing.
Both Atkinson and Robin Albert are adamant that they administered the medication prescribed for the child as ordered by the doctor. But instead of improving, the child’s condition became worse, recalled Robin Albert, who noted that he paid especially close attention to his son, whose left shoulder had also started to swell.
“He started wheezing like he couldn’t breathe,” Robin Albert had told this publication. The child was admitted to the hospital on two occasions. However, he later became severely ill and a medical evacuation was recommended.
But the dead child’s parents are convinced that had the attending doctor transferred him earlier he could have still been alive.
A post mortem examination revealed that the cause of death was pneumonia.
The CMO, during an earlier interview, had revealed that the approach that the public health system embraces for dealing with such cases is one where the district doctor is expected to remain in contact with the Paediatric Unit at the GPHC.
“If the child is under one (year old) they (the attending doctor) would talk with doctors in the (GPHC) Paediatric Unit and give them a description of what is going on…after which they would decide on whether a transfer is important,” said Dr. Persaud. For this reason, he noted that an investigation was launched to ascertain whether the requisite procedure was adhered to.