BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – DESPITE the concern of a number of persons about an alleged upsurge in deaths due to negligence at the state-of-the-art Joseph N. France General Hospital, Chief Medical Officer Patrick Martin said there was no cause for that.
The most recent complaint is centered on the number of deaths that occurred at that medical institution, specifically within the month of December, as it is alleged that between December 19 and 27 a total of 10 deaths were recorded for the Medical Ward.
Dr. Martin said that he does not want to come off insensitive to the public but 10 deaths in one week is not unusual or something that would get him alarmed.
He said that on average, a total of 350 deaths have been recorded within the Federation per year from 2006-2010. He has not yet received the figures for 2011.
“I wouldn’t be surprised when there are weeks with 10 deaths, because there are weeks with one death…there have been on average 30 deaths per month. Ten deaths will not get my juices flowing unless it’s 10 deaths from gunshot. You lose 10 infants, 10 mothers, 10 young people then it’s a concern,” he said.
The life expectancy in this country is 74 years. Males are expected to live to 72 while females 78.
“So a child born today is expected to live to 74. It may be a concern if there’s a sudden death and if it’s a number of persons at one time.
“A 90-year-old is a senior citizen living out their years in dignity. If you lose 10, they are at their ripe old age; if you lose 10 infants, 10 mothers, 10 young people then it’s a concern. What would make me pay attention is not 10 one hundred year-olds but a certain surge of deaths in either infants, mothers, young people and others. Of course, people who you don’t expect to die,” he said.
Martin continued: “The people who raised the question with you did not say what the ages were. People complain that there were 10 deaths in a week, but 10 deaths in who? We have a problem if it’s infants.”
The CMO said that countries health systems are judged by the death rate among infants, and that if one’s country’s health system is good the death rate among infants will be low.
“We lose 12 infants per year on average. If all of a sudden we lose 10 in a week that is a catastrophe. In the 1920’s and 30’s we were losing 300-400 babies a year. That was 35 babies per month in the 1920’s and 30’s, now we’re down to 12. There was a dramatic decrease from the 1970’s to the 1980’s.
“Every death in a child is a concern. A death in a child is an occasion. In every country in the world children die, in every country in the world mothers die from child birth. In St. Kitts-Nevis, between 2001 and 2010 we lost seven mothers, mostly after birth something happens,” he said.
While several persons or family members may accuse the hospital of some sort of foul play or negligence that may have resulted in the death of a loved one, Martin said that an autopsy could be conducted where persons could receive the answers they are looking for.
“We say we don’t know what happen, we don’t have all the information to give, an autopsy would help and the family doesn’t want the autopsy.
“Then they go and complain. An autopsy is likely to give the cause of death. We can only do an autopsy with the consent from the family. However, the police can do an autopsy without consent.”
He said that as far as he knows, there is no cost for the autopsy.
“Sometimes we may think it’s ‘one’ but the autopsy reveals ‘two’. It will also help the family find closure, and help doctors and junior doctors and students learn from that. But it’s annoying when people refuse the autopsy then spread rumours,” Dr. Martin said.
1.jpg)
