Rahael: No Mt Hope cover-up

FORMER Health Minister Dr Hamza Rafeeq claimed 70 babies died of enterobacter bacteria at the Mt Hope Women’s Hospital from June to November but current Health Minister John Rahael countered that there will be no cover-up of what transpires at Mt Hope. Speaking on a matter on the adjournment of Parliament, Rafeeq claimed Rahael was acting similar to his predecessor Colm Imbert by engaging in public relations and being swift to deny any problem in the health sector.  The Caroni Central MP declared: “I don’t know what figures the Minister will give this evening but I will give you official figures here of the deaths that occurred from June to November at the neonatal ward Mt Hope re-mortality. In June there were six deaths, July there were five deaths, August there were 14, September there were eight, October there were 13 and in November, the month we are talking about, there were 24 deaths.”

Rafeeq said under Imbert “there were in fact four deaths in one day and the immediate reaction of the Ministry was to deny there was an outbreak (of enterobacter bacteria at Mt Hope). “In any neonatal ward in the world there would be neonatal deaths. Given the fact that there was a recent history of enterobacter infections at that institution, given the fact that there was an unusually high number of deaths at the institution, given the fact that there was a suspicion of the enterobacter bacteria at that point in time , the necessary precautions needed to be taken. Instead of taking the necessary precautions, the authorities denied there was an outbreak, business as usual and just continued,” he declared. The UNC MP said Rahael was “an unknown quantity as far as health is concerned” but his track record as Agriculture Minister offered the population little comfort. 

“I ask him (Rahael) to have a heart. Do not be involved in any cover-up,” Rafeeq said.  He added that there were many women scheduled to give birth at Mt Hope and public confidence in that hospital needed to be restored. Rahael said several precautionary measures were taken when reports of enterobacter at Mt Hope surfaced in October and following the ward’s sanitisation, swab tests “were found all negative of enterobacter”. On current reports of enterobacter, the Minister said: “A breakdown in the infection control activities resulted in the increase in infection and deaths of the neonates.