The Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) is calling for the immediate resignation of the Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Christopher Tufton, after the deaths of some 12 babies linked to a bacterial outbreak at the Victoria Jubilee Hospital (VJH).
The Mark Golding-led PNP is also calling for a comprehensive probe into the deaths.
General Secretary of the PNP, Dr Dayton Campbell, has described the minister’s mere acceptance of the deaths of these babies and their families’ trauma as callous and unacceptable.
“While neonatal mortality due to infection is not uncommon, a 43% mortality rate is alarming and people must be held accountable for this massive death toll,” he argued.
Campbell also shared that ministers of previous Governments have lost their portfolios for neonatal deaths with far lower mortality rates.
“Infection control is seminal to the management of neonatal nurseries and to leave the staff at VJH without the necessary tools to ensure this infection control is tantamount to a dereliction of duty,” Campbell contended.
Tufton has blamed the spike in deaths of newborns on the shortage of nurses at neonatal units.
He said a probe is ongoing into the matter, and defended not coming public with the matter, though seven deaths occurred in July due to the bacterial outbreak.
In an interview, Tufton told Nationwide Radio that he did not inform Prime Minister Andrew Holness of the deaths and issues relative to the bacterial outbreak until Wednesday afternoon, when reporters began asking questions.
The PNP said that it is “not enough for the health minister to merely publicly admit to this tragic loss and stop short by saying a high-profile team has been sent in.
“This approach neither shows accountability to the families of the neonates lost nor inspires confidence in the expectant families, whose babies may need neonatal care in the nation’s premier maternity facility in the near future,” the PNP stated.
The Opposition is expressing condolences to the families who have lost their babies, adding that it hopes the appropriate grief counselling is put in place to help them in this emotionally trying time.
