Dawes welcomes probe of ventilator issues following newborn's death

By Nakinskie Robinson    

 

Shadow Spokesperson on Health Dr. Alfred Dawes has welcomed Prime Minister Andrew Holness' call for a probe following the death of a newborn at May Pen Hospital in Clarendon.

 

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Holness said he was disturbed by recent incidents in the health sector and had ordered an investigation, with the resulting report to come to Cabinet.

 

In the case of the newborn, the unavailability of a ventilator at May Pen Hospital and staff shortage at the nearby Mandeville Regional Hospital are being blamed for her death.

 

Dr. Dawes contends that the investigation is reactive. 

 

"We do need to have built in accountability in the Ministry of Health and Wellness, and that never seemed to be forthcoming from the fuzzy maths, the fuzzy numbers that were released. So it is a start, but it should not be as a result of a crisis that we're asking how many ICU spaces, how many HDU spaces we have in the country. It should be something that we can just pick up a document and know immediately how many are functional, and that speaks to the state of accountability and support for the various hospitals in the public health system," he asserted. 

 

He also argued that Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton neglected to consider several critical factors when he said all ventilators were accounted for. 

 

"Many of these ventilators were never commissioned. They were missing disposables, or the staff were never fully trained to operate them. You can account for a ventilator that is in a box. You can account for a ventilator that is missing an air compressor, but that does not mean that there isn't a shortage of working ventilators," he complained. 

 

He suggested that a proper account would take into consideration the number of high dependency unit (HDU) bed spaces are available with a ventilator, proper monitoring and staffing.  

 

"It is a part of any audit to look at, not just a count of ventilators, but an audit of the PROMAC (Programme for the Reduction of Maternal and Child Mortality) programme to see whether or not our international partners got value for their money," Dr. Dawes suggested during a press conference on Wednesday morning.

 

The Minister of Health on the weekend said approximately 100 ventilators were in use in the public health system.

 

Dr. Tufton was responding to the opposition's call for an investigation of the whereabouts of the 105 ventilators donated to the country during the COVID-19 pandemic.