7 families mourn over babies’ death; Legal Action taken against NWRHA

Trinidad and Tobago: Legal action has been taken against the North West Regional Health Authority (NWRHA) by the families of seven babies who died at the Port of Spain General Hospital NICU between April 4 to 7, 2024.

While mourning the deaths of their babies, the parents have claimed that they have succumbed to infection due to the medical negligence of the authority. Parents demanded proper investigation and action against those who were responsible for taking care of those babies.

As per the legal threats, the authorities have transferred a baby who had the particular viral infection from a private medical facility to the NICU, however, during the process, no precautions were taken by the hospital to isolate other babies. This has led to the contamination of the infection among other babies who were premature and admitted into the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the general hospital.

In the pre-action protocol letter, it was claimed that the clients have been encountered with the situation where the medical staff were seen ignoring every proactive measures. As per the reports, the medical staff were not sanitizing and washing their hands which posed the real threats to those babies and transmitted the infection.

The letter demanded the explanation from the hospital, citing if the staff who were caring for the contaminated baby, then they must follow all the precautionary measures. However, the negligence has been witnessed during the entire procedure due to the parents have showcased their rage.

The letter was sent to NWRHA’s CEO Anthony Blake from the parents of the babies who were Shaniya Raymond-Adams, Natasha Samuel, Shaquille Harry, Danyelle Samaroo, Tinelle Saunders, Jodie Molino and Shirese Moore-Beckles.

The letter further added that the incident happened due to the medical negligence which is unacceptable and raised questions on the medical standards of the Port of Spain General Hospital.

Parents mourned the death of their babies and demanded efficient actions against the staff who led this to happen. They also expressed grave concern about the integrity of medical notes and other records.

Besides this, the clients were also invited to a meeting with the top NWRHA officials on the matter. The letter also noted that several complaints had been lodged against them over medical negligence, and people were concerned about the situation.

The parents of a baby named Kae’ Jhene expressed their grief and disappointment with the medical staff. She was born on April 1 and placed in the NICU and her health started deteriorating on April 3 and she died on April 6. The cause of the death of the baby was gram-negative bacilli septicemia which was the viral infection in the hospital.

Mother of the baby was still in the hospital, when she was discharged, she was given the update that her child was fine, but the information was not valid as she lost her baby.

Health Minister Terrance Deyal Singh confirmed the deaths and said that the investigation on the matter has started. He also extended condolences to the families.