Stern Warning And Fines To SGH Staff For Hep 'C' Deaths! Let's Move On!

[ginfreely]

Minister only said he is responsible for protocols, not death of some low-caste sinkie.

No, he said it is his responsibility if there are issues with the protocols, which is exactly the case here for SGH outbreak according to the committee findings (gaps in procedures and protocols). In fact, as more lives are lost, this SGH case should be much more severe responsibility.

"Last December, an independent review committee found the outbreak of the viral disease in SGH's renal wards 64A and 67 was "due to multiple overlapping factors, including gaps in infection control procedures and protocols". Source: straits times

 

[johnny333]

I remember reading that the number of tourist from Indonesia is down.

I wonder how many of these are potential medical tourists Frightened off by the high costs & "honest mistakes" of Spore hospitals?

 

[eatshitndie]

I remember reading that the number of tourist from Indonesia is down.

I wonder how many of these are potential medical tourists Frightened off by the high costs & "honest mistakes" of Spore hospitals?

that's an excellent way to cull them. sg hospitals are doing the world a great service.

 

[ginfreely]

No, he said it is his responsibility if there are issues with the protocols, which is exactly the case here for SGH outbreak according to the committee findings (gaps in procedures and protocols). In fact, as more lives are lost, this SGH case should be much more severe responsibility.

"Last December, an independent review committee found the outbreak of the viral disease in SGH's renal wards 64A and 67 was "due to multiple overlapping factors, including gaps in infection control procedures and protocols". Source: straits times

If issues with protocols resulting in one death is the responsibility of minister, another case with protocol issues resulting in 8 deaths should definitely be the responsibility of minister.

 

[frenchbriefs]

I remember reading that the number of tourist from Indonesia is down.

I wonder how many of these are potential medical tourists Frightened off by the high costs & "honest mistakes" of Spore hospitals?

they are here for treatment at raffles hospital and staying at the intercontinental.u will never hear 26 cases of hep c at raffles let alone 8 deaths.only in the bottom dregs and bowels of sgh where peasants go to die.

 

[MovieStar]

This is something very serious.
How to move on?

It is about your life and my life.
Walao. Singapore health care standard drop so much
And yet they still charge me so high for my medical fee. Phew.

 

[scroobal]

Here is a little insight on this scandal. This is probably the best media managed episode of incompetence of pretty much of an epic scale. So much so that Singaporeans have no idea how bad this and may think that the authorities are up front and proper but do not realise that it is a major failure in leadership and the enormity of this has been downplayed. It also reeks of a cover-up of senior leadership. They crucified the female midshipman in court for the naval collision in 2003 which resulted in death of 4 female sailors but this is 25 infection and 8 deaths the severity of it was not realised or appreciated for 4 months.

Background:
Singhealth as a cluster has 2 Hospitals - SGH and KK. And SGH is the biggest hospital in Singapore. This Group CEO is the wife of the Minister of Defence and under her there are deputy CEOs and range of senior management staff. The Singhealth Board is headed by Ho Ching and PM's favourite Corporate Captain Peter Seah, the one who is the non Executive chairman of DBS but was questioned in the media for drawing an Executive salary of close to $2m. The board also comprises senior luminaries.

The Scandal:
In late May 2015, the staff in the Renal Unit realised that they a full blown contamination. Mostly transplant patient. 4 months later despite positive confirmation of 15 cases and 7 deaths associated with these cases, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health and the Group CEO and the wife of the Minister of Defence had no clue. They found out on 3 September. The Group Chief Risk Officer of Singhealth whose duty would involve managing such a major outbreak of this nature was not involved. On 18 September, the Minister of Health was notified. 2 days later on 20 September, The Chairman of the Singhealth Board and the Chairman of the Board Risk Oversight Committee found out for the first time. Bear in mind that this Ministry not only has Gan Kim Yong as Minister but also have 1 Senior of State, Amy Khor, and 2 Ministers of State, Lam Pin Ming and Chee Hong Tat. What were they doing over 4 months. On 30th Sept, the 8th and final death occurred with a total of 25 cases of contamination confirmed and the majority are transplant cases. And only in the second week of September, 5 months after the outbreak occurred did they stop the transplants and move the cases to NUH.

Are you telling me that these cases and deaths were deliberately hidden or that the senior political and non political leadership were so high up in the ivory tower that no one could reach them. Why have so many people in leadership positions drawing so much money but were not in a position to manage the situations. Some of these deaths could have been avoided and the families of those who donated their organs would not have seen them go to waste.

The actual cause:
I bet as conditioned Singaporeans, you guys after all these months and the press releases until yesterday have no idea what led to this debacle. It is actually straight forward and more the reason why most of these deaths were unnecessary. It is a blood borne contamination. It was traced to poor procedures where medical carts were not cleaned and blood stains were found on these carts, and on walls. Seriously has our nursing standards hit rock bottom. And this Unit handles organ transplants. Even a uneducated petrol pump attendant will not smoke a cigarette while attending the pump. Nothing sophisticated.

The ones who were disciplined:
None of the political appointees, nor the Group CEO and the wife of the Minister of Defence were amongst those disciplined. Nor were Board Chairman or the PS. It was only the second rung of the leadership who were crucified and I do agree that this lot should face the music.

Excess and wastage;
Why bother having a group and cluster structure when it clearly evident that they were not used, had no idea of the worst outbreak of contamination in Singapore's medical history as well as the highest death toll and worst still the loss of valuable organs that were donated.

Here is the leadership of Singhealth who had no idea what was going on and therefore played no part.
1) Sr Leadership - https://www.singhealth.com.sg/About...urLeadership/SeniorManagement/Pages/Home.aspx
2) The Board -https://www.singhealth.com.sg/AboutSingHealth/CorporateOverview/OurLeadership/BoardofDirectors/Pages/Home.aspx

It will remain to be seen if Prof Ivy Ng and the wife of the Minister of Defence and the PS for MOH Mrs Tan Ching Yee will be removed from their ivory tower. If PSC has any iota of moral responsibility they would know what to do. This is a classic failure in leadership. They ran their respective shops where the mechanism for escalation was inadequate, woeful and both had not idea of the raging fire until the house burnt down. And this is not minor episode. This is largest outbreak of contamination in our medical history plus the highest death toll. As for ehe Chairman of Singheatlh, he only knew after the Minister. Maybe they should take away his beloved bike for the time being.

I have no issues where the likes of Ang Chong Lye and Jeffrey Cutter are disciplined but they are just major cogs in the hierarchy. This however is a structural failure. This cannot stop here.

ps. how much compensation was paid out to keep this out of the courts? Another chapter?

 

[Leongsam]

Rubbish PAP cocksucker! In the Benjamin Lim case, Shanmugam said it is his responsibility: “If there are issues with the protocols, the responsibility is mine,” said Mr Shanmugam". So this case is the same. Warning, stern warning and financial penalty should be levied on the minister for SGH staff failing in the protocols.

The only difference between a warning and a stern warning is facial expression while being administered.

 

[virus]

Sounds like hard cock and stiff one

 

[eatshitndie]

Sounds like hard cock and stiff one

this is a warning....

this is a stern warning.....:oIo:

 

[frenchbriefs]

yes i would like to know the total sum of the compensation paid to the victims.

 

[virus]

It will be derisory

 

[johnny333]

they are here for treatment at raffles hospital and staying at the intercontinental.u will never hear 26 cases of hep c at raffles let alone 8 deaths.only in the bottom dregs and bowels of sgh where peasants go to die.

I have spoken to some Indonesians that have gone for treatment in Australia, Malacca, Penang, ...

When these medical tourists hear bad things about Spore's healthcare system they take note. Even I have my doubts because I believe that one apple can spoil the whole bunch. There is a lax attitude that now exists in Spore that has caused problems like MRT breakdowns, HDB units with flaws, deaths in the army, collapsing structures, unexplained fires, falling glass doors, ...

It's the "honest mistake" syndrome. Since no one is being held accountable, one can only assume that there is a potential for more of these mistakes to repeated.

The establishment has cut corners in exchange for expediency & profits. There might still be good doctors but good healthcare is a team effort. What is the use of having a good doctor, if you have poorly trained 3rd world nurses & technicians which could hamper recovery

If I had a medical problem that needed surgery I would look at Thailand which has a good reputation.

 

[JohnTan]

I have spoken to some Indonesians that have gone for treatment in Australia, Malacca, Penang, ...

When these medical tourists hear bad things about Spore's healthcare system they take note. Even I have my doubts because I believe that one apple can spoil the whole bunch. There is a lax attitude that now exists in Spore that has caused problems like MRT breakdowns, HDB units with flaws, deaths in the army, collapsing structures, unexplained fires, falling glass doors, ...

It's the "honest mistake" syndrome. Since no one is being held accountable, one can only assume that there is a potential for more of these mistakes to repeated.

The establishment has cut corners in exchange for expediency & profits. There might still be good doctors but good healthcare is a team effort. What is the use of having a good doctor, if you have poorly trained 3rd world nurses & technicians which could hamper recovery

If I had a medical problem that needed surgery I would look at Thailand which has a good reputation.

There is a high degree of accountability in Singapore. When politicians have affairs, they resign. When top civil servants make procedural mistakes, they receive stern warnings, fines and have their guaranteed promotions delayed by a year.

 

[longdongsilver]

The only difference between a warning and a stern warning is facial expression while being administered.

and a four-letter word..

 

[ginfreely]

There is a high degree of accountability in Singapore. When politicians have affairs, they resign. When top civil servants make procedural mistakes, they receive stern warnings, fines and have their guaranteed promotions delayed by a year.

What kind of job accountabilty is it when they no need to go for anything done wrong in their jobs? Only accountable for having affairs?

 

[ginfreely]

I have spoken to some Indonesians that have gone for treatment in Australia, Malacca, Penang, ...

When these medical tourists hear bad things about Spore's healthcare system they take note. Even I have my doubts because I believe that one apple can spoil the whole bunch. There is a lax attitude that now exists in Spore that has caused problems like MRT breakdowns, HDB units with flaws, deaths in the army, collapsing structures, unexplained fires, falling glass doors, ...

It's the "honest mistake" syndrome. Since no one is being held accountable, one can only assume that there is a potential for more of these mistakes to repeated.

The establishment has cut corners in exchange for expediency & profits. There might still be good doctors but good healthcare is a team effort. What is the use of having a good doctor, if you have poorly trained 3rd world nurses & technicians which could hamper recovery

If I had a medical problem that needed surgery I would look at Thailand which has a good reputation.

Yes the LAX attitude is very apparent. Only when people die then a rush of remedial actions.

 

[Thick Face Black Heart]

Here is a little insight on this scandal. This is probably the best media managed episode of incompetence of pretty much of an epic scale. So much so that Singaporeans have no idea how bad this and may think that the authorities are up front and proper but do not realise that it is a major failure in leadership and the enormity of this has been downplayed. It also reeks of a cover-up of senior leadership. They crucified the female midshipman in court for the naval collision in 2003 which resulted in death of 4 female sailors but this is 25 infection and 8 deaths the severity of it was not realised or appreciated for 4 months.

The Scandal:
In late May 2015, the staff in the Renal Unit realised that they a full blown contamination. Mostly transplant patient. 4 months later despite positive confirmation of 15 cases and 7 deaths associated with these cases, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health and the Group CEO and the wife of the Minister of Defence had no clue. They found out on 3 September. The Group Chief Risk Officer of Singhealth whose duty would involve managing such a major outbreak of this nature was not involved. On 18 September, the Minister of Health was notified. 2 days later on 20 September, The Chairman of the Singhealth Board and the Chairman of the Board Risk Oversight Committee found out for the first time. Bear in mind that this Ministry not only has Gan Kim Yong as Minister but also have 1 Senior of State, Amy Khor, and 2 Ministers of State, Lam Pin Ming and Chee Hong Tat. What were they doing over 4 months. On 30th Sept, the 8th and final death occurred with a total of 25 cases of contamination confirmed and the majority are transplant cases. And only in the second week of September, 5 months after the outbreak occurred did they stop the transplants and move the cases to NUH.

The actual cause:
I bet as conditioned Singaporeans, you guys after all these months and the press releases until yesterday have no idea what led to this debacle. It is actually straight forward and more the reason why most of these deaths were unnecessary. It is a blood borne contamination. It was traced to poor procedures where medical carts were not cleaned and blood stains were found on these carts, and on walls. Seriously has our nursing standards hit rock bottom. And this Unit handles organ transplants. Even a uneducated petrol pump attendant will not smoke a cigarette while attending the pump. Nothing sophisticated.

Truly something that should have occurred only in a 3rd world country. Why isn't the alternative media sites and the opposition making more noise about this case? Lack of information on which to act?

The incompetence at following basic hygiene procedures, executing containment protocols in event of outbreak, and the lack of accountability and transparency in holding relevant personnel to account leaves a lot to be desired. In fact, leaves so much to be desired I feel as if I am staring into a dark abyss.

I wonder if the old PAP would have allowed the crisis to escalate so far and to go on for so long undetected without relevant people being held to account. It is as if the higher ups are totally disconnected and furthermore are untouchable even in the event of major lapse.

The opposition should do the relevant research and make this into an issue.

 

[ginfreely]

With ageing population and more foreign doctors and nurses, the ministry must ensure these people strictly follow the protocols and not according to their wishes or third world standard.

 

[halsey02]

Is Is a Honest mistake.....let us MOVE ON!