[UPDATED] Doctor back at work as PAHO probe begins

The head of the Port of Spain General Hospital's (PoSGH) Infection Prevention and Control department, who was sent on administrative leave after the deaths of several babies at the hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), has returned to work.

Dr Darrel Jones was sent on leave by the North West Regional Health Authority’s (NWRHA) board as it initiated an internal investigation into the deaths, which occurred after a bacterial outbreak at the NICU.

In a statement last Thursday, the authority said Jones “shall proceed on administrative leave pending the conclusion of the relevant investigations into the demise of the seven neonates at the NICU,” between April 4 and 9.

It added, “As the investigation matures, the NWRHA may make further recommendations for suspension if deemed necessary to advance the investigation.”

Last week, head of the Nursing Association Idi Stuart described the decision to send Jones on leave as “unfortunate” and said he was being made a scapegoat.

“He may be an expected fallout. He would be a low-hanging fruit, which the RHA could point to that they are doing something.”

Newsday understands Jones returned to work earlier this week after just days on leave.

Stuart told Newsday he believes this is because Jones’s input will be critical to the independent investigation into the recent bacterial outbreak being done by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

On Wednesday the Ministry of Health said the three-person team from PAHO, which arrived on Monday, had begun its work.

The team includes university professor Dr Nalini Singh, clinical microbiologist Dr Grisel Rodriguez and head of the NICU at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in Barbados Dr Gillian Birchwood.

Stuart said, “It will be important for PAHO to conduct the investigation properly. If the infection prevention control head is not there, it would have proved an inefficient report. He would be critically important for the PAHO representatives to interview.”

Stuart speculated it could be difficult to get Jones’ co-operation if he was still on administrative leave.

“If I'm on suspension, you can’t call me to interview me about anything administratively because hey, you had me off the job.”

He maintained his view that Jones was a “fall guy.”

“We understand that the government was under pressure to show that they did something. They needed a fall guy and he was a temporary fall guy.”

Chairman of the NWRHA Lisa Agard told Newsday she could not confirm whether Jones was back at work, or, if so, the reasoning behind this decision.

She said, though, she believed he would have information the investigators may need.

“It is my understanding, obviously, that PAHO would want to speak to as many people as possible who were involved in the management of the NICU in any way. So it may well be that there was a requirement for him to participate in the PAHO (investigation).”

Stuart said regardless of the reason, he was happy Jones was back and hoped the focus could now turn to providing the families with answers.

“We not interested in egos and how it looks. We are about resolving the issue and resolving the issue would mean (Jones) is there to inform PAHO as to what exactly transpired and what part he had to play and the department had to play. (For example) if he advised the medical chief of staff of certain things and it wasn't followed, he could say that directly, first-hand.”

NWRHA staff praise CEO

Meanwhile, Stuart said NWRHA CEO Anthony Blake is being praised by staff for his handling of the situation at the PoSGH after the death of the babies.

He said Blake, who was employed with the TT Defence Force, has brought valuable crisis-management experience to the NWRHA and has managed to keep staff motivated.

“We must commend the CEO for some of the crisis decisions he has been able to take, especially meeting with all staff, which they certainly appreciate, and not allowing them to feel that they are totally isolated.

“He came from dealing with crisis throughout the region like hurricanes, natural disasters and what not. In those situations one would learn that there's a crisis going on, but you still need to meet with the stakeholders and get their perspective on not just what the issue is but what they're going through themselves.”

Stuart said nurses are pleased that Blake is encouraging them to look after their mental health instead of trying to place blame.

"He's not focusing on that dynamic, he's leaving that for PAHO to deal with. The incident has already happened and PAHO’s doing an investigation and the necessary recommendations will be made.

“He is focusing on their psychological condition, which all of these staff particularly the nurses are going through right now because every parent who's coming in there is second-guessing information and second-guessing the responses by the doctors and nurses. So it's really a difficult time.”

Stuart warned a witchhunt could be detrimental to the wider public.

“We as a country need to understand we are so short of nurses who have been trained in neonatal care that there's no one who can go in to support them. So if they decide to leave, we will be far worse off than we currently are.”

He said some nurses have even stopped listening to the news, quit social media and have asked to access the employee assistance programme because of the stress they are enduring.

“It's a continuous battle. And then you have deal with PAHO coming to ask some questions (along with) executive management, and quality (department). So every day is like another investigation they are being put through…So it's really a difficult time.”

Agard shared similar sentiments, saying the situation has been stressful for everyone in the NWRHA.

“Part of our collective efforts has to be to ensure that all employees are taking care from a mental health perspective. It's a difficult time and it is not a time for us to be critical necessarily, but introspective of our collective effort. And I think that that is being done extremely well.”

Attempts to contact Blake for comment were not successful up to press time.

This story has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

The head of the Port of Spain General Hospital's (PoSGH) Infection Prevention and Control department, who was sent on administrative leave after the deaths of several babies at the hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), has returned to work.

Dr Darrel Jones was sent on leave by the North West Regional Health Authority’s (NWRHA) board as it initiated an internal investigation into the deaths, which occurred after a bacterial outbreak at the NICU.

In a media release last Thursday the authority said Jones “shall proceed on administrative leave pending the conclusion of the relevant investigations into the demise of the seven neonates at the NICU,” between April 4 and 9.

It added, “As the investigation matures, the NWRHA may make further recommendations for suspension if deemed necessary to advance the investigation.”

Last week, head of the Nursing Association Idi Stuart described the decision to send Jones on leave as “unfortunate” and said he was being made a scapegoat.

“He may be an expected fallout. He would be a low-hanging fruit, which the RHA could point to that they are doing something.”

Newsday understands Jones returned to work earlier this week after just days on leave.

Stuart told Newsday he believes this is because Jones’s input will be critical to the independent investigation into the recent bacterial outbreak being done by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

On April 24 the Ministry of Health said the three-person team from PAHO, which arrived on April 22, had begun its work.

The team includes university professor Dr Nalini Singh, clinical microbiologist Dr Grisel Rodriguez and head of the NICU at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in Barbados Dr Gillian Birchwood.

“It will be important for PAHO to conduct the investigation properly. If the infection prevention control head is not there, it would have proved an inefficient report.”

Chairman of the NWRHA Lisa Agard told Newsday she could not confirm whether Jones was back at work, or, if so, the reasoning behind this decision.

She said, though, she believes he will have information the investigators may need.

“It is my understanding, obviously, that PAHO would want to speak to as many people as possible who were involved in the management of the NICU in any way. So it may well be that there was a requirement for him to participate in the PAHO (investigation).”