The original article can be found in: Amandala By Miriam Longsworth
A mix-up in the delivery of a baby’s corpse at the Western Regional Hospital has left a family in uproar and the public in dismay.
Last Tuesday a 22-year-old woman had to have her still-born child removed through surgery. When the family went to the morgue Saturday to receive the baby’s body for burial, however, the body was not there.
The family was eventually informed that the corpse was mistakenly given to another family who had already buried the body by the time they found out.
The Ministry of Health issued an apology on June 25, 2013, through a press release, saying that it had conducted an investigation into the matter and concluded that there was a “procedural error by staff members of the hospital.”
The error is said to be an isolated case and measures will be taken to ensure that the situation does not occur again, but meanwhile, disciplinary action has been taken against two persons who are responsible for the situation.
The Ministry stated that they regret the unfortunate series of events that led to the baby’s corpse being given to the wrong family, and apologised to the families involved and to the public for the “breach of confidence” in the hospital.
The Ministry of Health also announced that necessary steps have been taken through the Public Health Inspectorate to manage the outcome of the situation. They added that psychological support has been offered to and accepted by those persons who were affected by the matter.
CEO in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Peter Allen, said that the incident was simply unforgivable and terribly sad.
Allen said that there was direct involvement of a couple staff members in the matter and it was recommended that those persons be suspended for the duration of the investigation into the matter.
“I felt it important after consultation with my administrative officers at the Ministry to listen to the recommendations of the Western Regional Hospital management team and suspend one or two officers while we conduct the proper investigation into what really happened,” he said. “That is what we have done, but the most important thing is that I wish I could say it never happened. But it did and we are extremely sorry that it did,” Allen said.
