News
Unwarranted demise? Probe into newborn’s death at Trincomalee Hospital
View(s):By Sajeniya Sathanandan
Two young parents grieving the loss of their firstborn at the Trincomalee Hospital are demanding justice while the Ministry of Health has launched a formal inquiry into suspected medical negligence.
Twenty eight -year-old Sathyaseelan Thilakshika and 33-year-old Vijayan Vasanthan, a housewife and a taxi driver, in a complaint lodged at the local police station and the Human Rights Commission, claim that gross medical negligence on the part of Trincomalee Hospital staff cost the life of their first child.
Sathyaseelan Thilakshika was admitted to the Trincomalee District General Hospital on 8 May, around 1:40AM, due to labour pains, her mother Selvarani told the Sunday Times.
The mother and grandmother of the deceased infant arriving at the police station. Pic by Amadoru Amarageewa
Selvarani claims that after admission she had to leave her daughter all alone as the hospital does not allow caregivers to stay outside allocated hours. Thilakshika had repeatedly called her mother and said with tears that “the doctors and nurses are not properly examining me or listening to what I say”.
Thilakshika said that a lady doctor initially examined her and said “there is time” for the delivery. Till May 9 she experienced severe bleeding and vomiting, but the nurses and midwives neglected her complaints.
When she requested medication to stop vomiting from the midwife, she was told in an aggressive tone, “If you need medication, go and visit the doctor”, Thilakshika said.
During the Nonstress Test (NST) to monitor the baby’s heart rate she struggled to climb to the bed as she was weak after excessive bleeding and vomiting. Her husband had to help her climb onto the bed and the midwife had scolded them saying she had other work to do and did not have time for Thilakshika alone.
Amongst 20 pregnant women Thilakshika was the least cared for and the other women had to help her to enter the examination room. The doctors rushed her to the labour room without any explanation after the examination.
Thilakshika said “They did not even let me take a wash, comb my hair, change into hospital clothes for surgery, did not request for the bag with essentials that the hospital requests during labour. Instead, they used old clothes found in the room”.
She said the baby was not shown to her after delivery and that she was informed after half an hour that the baby had died due to consuming meconium (faeces).
She was released from the labour room and discharged from the hospital only after her mother and husband raised concerns in the evening around 4:30 PM.
The grieving mother had to further suffer due to fever after she was discharged because the doctors had not cleaned her womb, which led her to visit the traumatising setting of the hospital again for a womb wash.
Thilakshika claimed that the consultant gynaecologist never saw her and that only the lady doctor and the male doctor who examined her were present at the surgery.
When her husband Vasanthan, having noticed his wife being neglected, had interfered, the nurses had been rude to him.
Also, while he had initially been told by the gynaecologist that the baby died of a heart problem, the same consultant had later said that the heart had been fine, and they would need to wait three months for a report from Colombo.
A preliminary inquiry has been completed on the allegations. “The next step is a formal inquiry where a charge sheet will be issued,” Dr. Hansaka Wijemuni, Deputy Minister of Health and Mass Media, said.
The two doctors concerned have been temporarily suspended because the preliminary inquiry found disciplinary violations, and a formal inquiry would not be possible while they were working in the hospital.
Also, investigations have revealed that the doctors have failed to inform the hospital or follow proper procedures, the minister said.
While, due to a shortage of specialists, consultant doctors in government-sector hospitals are allowed to work in the private sector, they cannot do so within their official government working hours.
In case of leaving to attend to an emergency, the doctor should inform the hospital director and record it in the designated logbook. Also, arrangements need to be made for another doctor to cover their duties while they are away.
If an individual feels they have been treated in an unfair manner in a medical setting, he/she could lodge a complaint at the Ministry of Health for administrative or disciplinary investigations.
To investigate violations of the ethical code, the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) can be consulted, and they have the power to cancel a doctor’s license if he/she is found guilty of a serious violation.
Also, when the affected individual lodges a complaint at the police station, they can seek financial compensation from the Ministry of Health.
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