Forgotten and abandoned.
That’s the sentiment of several parents who lost their babies at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in early April.
It has now been six months since eight babies died from bacterial infections at the NICU.
During that time, the public’s outrage has subsided but the anguish faced by the babies’ parents continues to haunt them.
They are dismayed by the lack of updates from the North West Regional Authority and the Health Ministry.
“The main thing right now is therapy. We are just going through therapy right now. The lawyer, every so often, will message or call and update us,” said Kerron Charles, the father of the late Kae’ Jhene.
“I feel like we, as a country; we tend to forget after a short period, and I feel like this is something that shouldn’t be forgotten or taken lightly because there are so many deaths.
“It continues to get worse, I mean at some point you get tired of feeling so depressed, and it’s a situation you can’t change. And just knowing that it is prolonging, I feel like I can’t fully heal until I get all the answers and all the doubts are cleared,” said Danyelle Samaroo, the mother of Aarya Raya Chatergoon.
Samaroo said attempts by the parents to get closure and possible legal redress were stalled by what she said was Government’s refusal to cover the cost of an independent investigation into the medical records of the incident.
Attorneys estimate it would cost around US$5,000 to investigate each case.
“They (the State) refused to pay for the fees. Without that, I don’t know if we can build a proper case. To go through all of that, especially after the death, and still not benefit from it, in terms of getting closure has been hard and I think people tend to forget about how traumatising something like that can be.
“Locally, no practitioners want to go ahead and review it, because that would be a cheaper alternative for us. But because most local doctors are assigned to the public board, I don’t think they want to go ahead and do it,” Samaroo claimed.
Shaquille Henry, the mother of Rumani Williams, called the lack of updates and progress, depressing and irritating.
“It’s very depressing to know that seven babies died in a space of four days and they just shoved it aside like their lives mean nothing. In Trinidad, no one is held accountable for their actions, not even the heads,” she lamented.
Guardian Media was informed by NWRHA sources that attorneys representing the authority were informed by Freedom Law Chambers, which represents the parents, that all communication is to be conducted through the law firm.
NWRHA sources said that several attempts have since been made to settle the matter out of court, but there is a legal standstill because Freedom Law Chambers is demanding that an admittance of guilt/wrongdoing by the authority accompanies any settlement.
Guardian Media understands that Freedom Law Chambers is waiting for all therapy sessions to be completed before proceeding to the next stage of legal action—potentially court.
In response to a request for comment from Guardian Media, the Ministry of Health said, “Following the Minister of Health’s statement in Parliament on June 28, in response to the Report from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) titled, Review Mission into the Clinical Events at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital, Trinidad and Tobago, April 2024, (attached for your reference), to date, the Ministry of Health has not received a response from PAHO. Given that legal proceedings have begun; the Ministry advises all parties to be responsible.”
What happened at NICU
Seven babies died from sepsis at Port-of-Spain General Hospital’s NICU between April 4 and April 7. An eighth baby later died.
The NWRHA confirmed the deaths of the babies on April 11 in a press release. The release said that laboratory investigations revealed the presence of three organisms—all known to pose significant risks to ‘vulnerable neonates.’
On April 18, the NWRHA suspended the head of the Infection Prevention Control Unit at POSGH.
Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh apologised for the deaths, including in Parliament, promising that investigations would reveal what was responsible for the deaths.
Representing as many as 19 families, Freedom Law Chambers, headed by former Attorney General Anand Ramlogan, SC, issued pre-action protocol letters against the NWRHA for medical negligence, involving the seven cases in early April and other cases between January 2022 and April 2024.
The NWRHA has expressed a willingness to settle the matter, but the affected families, via Freedom Law Chambers, declined, saying it won’t accept ‘hush money.’
In June, Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh laid the Pan American Health Organization’s (PAHO) report into the incident in Parliament.
The 35-page report found, among other things, that: active surveillance for monthly HAI/Blood bloodstream infection (BSI) rates is not conducted; outbreak identification and number of outbreaks in the last year data are not reported; microbiology stood at 40 per cent compliance; external performance evaluation and internal quality assessment are not performed; policies and procedures for prevention of surgical site wound infection in OB theatre is not done; and there was an inadequate ratio of nursing professionals to patient ratio.
The parents said they were not interviewed by PAHO, which they found shocking.