GPHC to initiate action of adherence to protocol
―Following findings of investigations into death of paediatric oncology patients
―Medical personnel involved remain on administrative leave
DPI, Guyana, Friday, March 8, 2019
After two investigations into the deaths of three paediatric oncology patients in January, it was found that there needs to be a series of actions taken to ensure standard treatment guidelines and protocols for treatment are followed at the Georgetown Public Hospital.
Chairperson of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation board, Kessaundra Alves presented a report which stated that an initial investigation concluded in January found that human deficiencies and systemic challenges contributed to the demise of the three infants.
Alves states that as of January 29, a subsequent investigation was conducted by the Ministry of Public Health. This investigation committee was headed by Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Karen Gordon-Campbell. The findings of enquiry show that GPHC protocols for the delivery of chemotherapy to infants were not adhered to.
A number of measures were recommended, in terms of system strengthening with the aim of preventing the possibility of recurrence. This includes addressing staffing in the paediatric oncology unit, management of the department and also ensuring that the standard treatment guidelines and protocol are made known to the staff and effectively followed.
The DCMO said part of the problem is that the treatment was administered incorrectly. Protocols for administering chemotherapy treatment is determined by dosage, patient’s condition at the time of administering, weight among other key points which can make a difference in how the body may react to the drug.
Director of Medical and Professional Services at the GPHC, Dr. Fawcett Jeffrey who spearheaded the initial investigation into the children’s deaths said that had the protocol and treatment guidelines been followed this situation could have been avoided.
“When you are going to treat a patient there are certain protocols you need to follow there are road maps that you need to follow when you are going to administer any form of medical attention to a patient and what happened is that these road maps were not followed exactly as they should be and that is the reason we end up with the complication.”
Added to this, Chief Executive Officer, Retired Brigadier, George Lewis said that, “An evaluation is currently being done by PAHO/WHO with a view of assisting us in identifying the additional deficiency, assisting us in terms of building our human resource capacity and we hope that at the end of this process we can have a much stronger, better equipped Paediatric Oncology department.”
The medical personnel involved in the administering of the intravenous and intrathecal drug treatment have been on administrative leave and will remain so until further notice. The drugs used at the time were vincristine and methotrexate to which the Leukemia patients suffered adverse reactions after they received the drugs.
Curwayne Edwards age 7, died on January 8, 2019, while Roshnie Seegobin age 3 and Shareezer Mendonca age 6, died on January 18 and 24 respectively. GPHC officially informed the family of the deceased infants of the report findings and expressed condolences and also formally apologized for the unfortunate incident.
“The families expressed that there is never a recurrence of the situation they would like to implement a policy, they asked about how we are going to treat with the medical professionals involved in the incident and that matter is not within our hands. Contractually we can determine who works at GPHC but who is licensed to practice medicine in Guyana is a matter for the medical council to handle.” The hospital’s board chairperson noted.
Delicia Haynes.
Images: Marceano Naraine.