4 weeks ago, 7News showed you the comments of Prime Minister Dean Barrow, as he responded to the protest held by COLA about the 12 neonates who died inside the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.
One of the major public concerns was the perception that KHMH Administration was investigating itself, and so, the issue was that if the hospital was investigating itself, they could doctor the results to hide any major mistakes and forms of negligence.
PM Barrow allayed that fear somewhat when he announced that the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) would be the leading organization inquiring into the mass premature deaths.
Well, it's been about a month since that protest, and yesterday, KHMH finally announced that the full PAHO report is finally complete. They only just released today it on their website, but the date on the document suggests that it was available since last week Monday.
Our newsroom has only been able to peruse the 25 page document, but there are several findings which are of significant note.
The first is that KHMH has an oversight mechanism which is supposed to work to prevent the bacteria outbreak which ran amok in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. It is called the Infection Control Committee ICC, and this committee advises the hospital on its Infection Prevention and Control program, ICP. According to PAHO, the ICC as an advisory committee has not been working on a regular basis. The report does not define what "regular" is, and leave a lot of room for interpretation about the time gaps which the ICC is not active.
According to PAHO, the ICP is led by trained personnel, but it lacks direction and evaluation by the ICC, which is significant because, essentially, the report is saying that there is lack of assessment to see if the program is working.
The report adds that the hospital is equipped with a microbiology laboratory, which is able to carry out its functions; it is handicapped by a constrained and reduced space, supplies capacity, quality control measures, and training for the staff members.
Finally, the PAHO report says quote,
"Standard precautions for hospital infection control and prevention and National Infection Prevention Guidelines lack of monitoring and of a supportive environment."
End Quote. Expanding on this finding, the PAHO investigators have discovered there is not enough hand washing sinks and hand hygiene solution. Additionally, the walls and ceiling tiles show signs of exposure to water leak, mold growth, rusty furniture, and porous surfaces in critical care areas.
The report lists quite a number of recommendations for improvements, which we plan to explore with the KHMH Administration, who has scheduled a press conference for tomorrow to address the report.
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