Senior Reporter
A High Court Judge has slammed the former North West Regional Health Authority (NWRHA) board for reneging on its promise to disclose the report from its internal investigation into a bacterial outbreak at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) unit that claimed the lives of seven babies over a week in 2024.
High Court Judge Robin Mohammed issued the criticism on Thursday, as he upheld a lawsuit brought by Freedom Law’s Anand Ramlogan, SC, on behalf of one of the affected mothers, Shanya Raymond-Adams.
In deciding the case, Justice Mohammed found it “highly suspicious” that the NWRHA refused to disclose the investigative report on the basis of legal professional privilege, after its former CEO, Anthony Blake, gave public assurances it would be handed over to the grieving parents and their lawyers.
“It must be stated that even if I accepted that the report was prepared for the purposes of legal advice and is subject to legal professional privilege, given Mr Blake’s very public assurances, coupled with the traumatic circumstances related to these events, the responsible course of action for the defendant would have been to produce an investigative report which honours the promises made, while facilitating the defendant’s unimpeded receipt of legal advice,” he said.
He also pointed out that Blake knew the families were pursuing lawsuits when he gave the assurance.
Noting that the NWRHA did not provide any documentation to prove the exemption under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), he found that the evidence showed it (the investigation) was commissioned based on the authority’s internal review requirements and not in preparation for litigation from the affected families, as claimed. He also rejected the authority’s contention that the other affected families, who are represented by the same legal team, filed negligence cases without having access to the report.
“This argument raises even more suspicion about the true purpose behind the defendant’s withholding of the report,” Justice Mohammed said, noting that the actions of the other families did not affect Raymond-Adams rights to access under the FOIA.
Justice Mohammed also questioned the authority’s stance based on the fact that a report on a separate investigation done by Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), which was laid in Parliament and disclosed, found deficiencies in the infection control and governance at the NICU.
“The defendant’s lack of transparency in the face of unequivocal neglect in the performance of official duty; injustice to the claimant (and other grieving mothers); and danger to the health of the already vulnerable neonates, only operates to compound public concerns that the defendant is deliberately seeking to suppress the information in question rather than engage in honest efforts toward the prevention of future tragedies,” he said.
He also took issue with the authority’s critique of the findings from the independent PAHO probe.
“The defendant has merely sought to refute the PAHO report’s reliability through bald averments of its inaccuracies…This is wholly insufficient in the circumstances,” Justice Mohammed said.
He also pointed out that the report would be vital to eventually determining the families’ lawsuits alleging systematic failures or lapses in medical care.
In a statement issued following the judgment, Ramlogan called on the new authority’s board to disclose the report instead of seeking to pursue a costly appeal.
“The families and the country deserve to know what the investigation established, about why these babies died, what went wrong and what has been done to prevent a recurrence,” Ramlogan said.
“The truth about these deaths must be made known. These mothers have waited long enough,” he added.
He criticised the authority for forcing his client to pursue a lawsuit over two years.
Ramlogan also called on the authority to consider settling the families’ claims to avoid lengthy litigation.
“No settlement can restore a child’s life or erase a mother’s grief. It can, however, provide compensation and spare these families the additional suffering of prolonged litigation,” he said.
Raymond-Adams’ daughter, Kae’ Jhene Charles, was born at the hospital on April 1, 2024, and died five days later after undergoing a blood transfusion. The NICU was temporarily shut down amid public outrage over six other babies dying in similar circumstances within days of Charles. Another baby, Nandaranie Nathoo, succumbed to the same infection weeks before the mass deaths.
While the NWRHA launched its investigtion, the Ministry of Health commissioned an independent probe from PAHO. The PAHO probe was conducted by three foreign specialists in paediatric care, clinical microbiology, and neonatal intensive care. Their report highlighted several deficiencies, including a less than 29 per cent compliance rate on accepted standards of care, a lack of personnel for infection prevention control, breaches in protective equipment protocols and severe understaffing.
The families are also being represented by Jayanti Lutchmedial, Kent Samlal, Jared Jagroo, Natasha Bisram, and Aaasha Ramlal. The NWRHA was represented by Ravi Nanga, SC, Steohan Maharaj and Alana Bissessar.
