Imbert: NWRHA axe falls in one week

HEALTH MINISTER Colm Imbert yesterday disclosed that the North-West Regional Health Authority’s (NWRHA) Board of Directors will discipline persons responsible for the deaths of four babies at the Mount Hope Women’s Hospital in one week. The babies died due to high levels of  Enterobacter Bacteria at the hospital’s neo-natal ward in August. Speaking with Newsday following the 32nd PNM Diego Martin East constituency conference, Imbert said: “I have received two reports and both of them point to a failure on the part of the management which is precisely what would be expected. That is such a serious matter, I expect them (NWRHA Board) to take action within a week.”  The Minister said the reports revealed no systems for infection control were in place at the time and there was an overall lack of accountability for operations at the hospital’s neo-natal ward. On a Newsday story about the NWRHA’s failure to purchase new sterilisers, Imbert stated: “That is a matter for the NWRHA.”

He explained that when the Regional Health Authorities (RHAs) were established, their responsibility was the delivery of health care and provision of services while the Ministry set policy, provided funding and administrative support. “The RHAs have to improve the way they deal with situations. What they do, is they just step back and let the Ministry handle the problems and that is not correct. We have to put an end to that,” Imbert declared. Imbert also slammed the NWRHA for a situation last Friday where X-ray facilities broke down at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital and disclosed that the X-ray machine there was purchased in 1999, the warranty expired in 2000 and no maintenance plan was created. The Minister disclosed that he has since called for thorough operational check of the facilities at all of the RHAs. Imbert further revealed that at a recent PAHO conference in Washington DC, all Caricom health ministers told him they had doctor shortages similar to Trinidad and Tobago’s. The Minister again justified the rationale for Government bringing in Cuban and UNDP doctors to fill vacancies in the health sector and said TT has a “recurring shortage of 200 doctors per year.” He described the arrival of the first batch of UNDP doctors in TT this week as timely and said these doctors will be used as part of a joint programme of the Ministries of Health and Education to cater to the medical needs of schoolchildren. Imbert also spoke of his Ministry’s plans to clear the surgery backlog at the nation’s health institutions and expand the Chronic Disease Assistance Programme to include persons aged 16 and over.