PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – The North West Regional Health Authority (NWRHA) has dismissed claims that the healthcare system in Trinidad and Tobago has collapsed amid “speculation and misinformation” surrounding the deaths of newborn babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the Port of Spain General Hospital.
NWRHA, in a statement on Saturday, said the claims of collapse were “unfortunate and irresponsible”.
“The nation’s healthcare facilities are fully functional, including the NICU at the Port of Spain General Hospital and the thousands of healthcare professionals who go out to work night and day to care for the nation’s sick, remain dedicated and professional in carrying out their duties,” it said.
The NWRHA’s comments come amid continued media coverage of the deaths of seven babies at the NICU between April 2 and 9, from late-onset neonatal sepsis. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) will be doing the independent investigation into the babies’ deaths.
The infants’ parents, in the meantime, have retained legal counsel and last week a pre-action protocol letter was sent to the NWRHA by attorneys from Freedom Law Chambers, ahead of a proposed class action medical negligence lawsuit.
Since then, several other mothers have come forward about losing babies who were in NICU, though not within the April 2 to 9 period.
The NWRHA said in its statement that because of the legal action being taken, it was not in a position to correct a lot of “speculation and misinformation put into the public domain”.
“This notwithstanding, we think it important to share some indisputable facts, if only for general knowledge and to assure our current and future patient population. There has been no collapse or breakdown of the healthcare system in Trinidad and Tobago,” it said.
It stressed that the root cause of the infant deaths is still to be determined, and will be.
“Of equal importance is finding out how and why the deaths occurred and the steps necessary to prevent a recurrence,” the NWRHA said. “This is the subject of the investigation that is being conducted by PAHO at the request of the Ministry of Health alongside the NWHRA’s own internal investigation.”
Head of the NWRHA’s Infection Prevention Control Unit has been sent on administration leave pending the outcome of the probes.
The NWHRA, which said its NIC accepts the smallest and sickest babies from all the Regional Health Authorities in the twin-island republic, reported that in 2023, of the 403 babies – 19 per cent of all live births that year – admitted, 19 died. That resulted in a neonatal mortality rate of 8 per 1,000 live births.
It acknowledged that the previous year, that rate was 6.2 per 1,000 live births but noted “there were less congenital anomalies that year”.
Using figures from a 2021 World Bank report, the NWRHA pointed out that in Barbados, the rate was the same as the 2023 rate in Trinidad. It cited other Caribbean nations – Jamaica, 10 per 1,000; Suriname 11 per 1,000 live births; and Guyana, 17 per 1,000.
