‘Commendable’, says Morgan of MOH’s handling of VJH bacterial outbreak Loop Jamaica

Black Immigrant Daily News

The Government is commending the steps that were taken by officials at the Health and Wellness Ministry and its Minister, Dr Christopher Tufton, in cauterising the bacterial outbreak at the Victoria Jubilee Hospital (VJH) which resulted in the death of 12 babies.

Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) with responsibility for information, Robert Morgan, who was speaking at Wednesday’s post-Cabinet press briefing, said the management of the situation was of importance to the Government.

“… There is this conversation of, should the minister had said it in January or should he have said it in February (for example), but what is most important for us as a Government is the management of the issue,” declared Morgan.

“Immediately, as there was a recognition, the administrators, the head of Victoria Jubilee (Hospital), the nurses, the doctors, worked really hard to solve the problem,” he added.

The information minister also commended Tufton and the team at VJH for acting quickly to manage the outbreak.

“I think what is commendable about this situation is how the Ministry of Health and its staff managed the situation.

“If you compare it with previous (incidents), you would have seen an escalating of the incidents regarding babies not making it. What has happened here (in this current situation) is that immediately as it was found out that there was a challenge, there was a cauterisation,” Morgan stated.

Dr Christopher Tufton.

He elaborated that, “So, in the first month, we had about seven (deaths), in the second one (month), they had about two (deaths), then one (death), and then you saw a tapering off of the incidents, and I think that is something that the country should be proud of, that our healthcare workers and the administration of the hospital, led by the minister, were able to quickly deal with what was a very challenging situation.”

The Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) has been calling for the resignation of Tufton over his nondisclosure of the deaths, among other issues.

However, Tufton has repeatedly insisted that the decision not to disclose the outbreak and subsequent deaths was taken in a bid to not create public hysteria or alarm.

Further, he said the situation was quickly brought under control.

In responding to further questions relative to the Government’s position on Tufton’s handling of the issues at VJH, Morgan insisted that the relevant protocols established by the Health Ministry were followed.

“Not every issue rises to the level where the minister will be immediately advised about it.

“In this case, the minister had a team who we put in charge in the public service, whose job it is to manage these problems, and if it rises to a particular level, then that is where… there is an alert,” Morgan shared.

“In this case, it was discovered in one month that there was… the deaths of babies due to what is called klebsiella.

“The protocol worked; they called in the Pan American Health Authority (Organisation), and they assisted the Government and assisted the health sector in fixing the problem,” stated the information minister.

He said Tufton was informed after the initial seven deaths of the babies in July, which was confirmed by the health minister during an update on the situation in Parliament on Tuesday.

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