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“Being proactive could save the life of a mother and her unborn child.”This assertion was made by Chief Medical Officer, Dr Shamdeo Persaud, during an interview with this publication.Dr Persaud was at the time addressing the situation of maternal and child mortality, with major emphasis on the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).  He disclosed that while some health officials could be deemed culpable in some cases, the onus remains on mothers to pay keen attention to their bodies.Chief Medical Officer, Dr Shamdeo PersaudEven husbands and other family members could play a very vital role in helping to detect problems, which should be brought to the attention of health personnel, Dr Persaud noted.  “As medical personnel you can only do so much at times,cheap nfl jerseys china, because sometimes people ignore signs of problems and don’t come in early enough for medical attention. The best medical response is the one given in a timely manner,” he asserted.For this reason, measures have been implemented to raise awareness among expectant mothers and their family members of things that they can do at home to help protect both mother and unborn child. The CMO disclosed that such sessions are held during antenatal clinics and target mainly those women who are in the last trimester.Imperative investigationDr Persaud noted that failure on the part of patients to visit the hospital promptly,Alex Delvecchio Red Wings Jersey, certainly does not exempt medical officials of blame, if they are found to be culpable.In the event of a death, he emphasised that there is always an investigation, which is required by law. The regulation was made under the Ministry of Health Act of 2005 that a full investigation must be done at the level of the institution recording the death. The requisite officials are required to prepare a report, which along with all the relevant charts and documents such as post mortem reports and antenatal records are sent to the office of the CMO,Cheap NFL Jerseys, who is then tasked with reviewing these.“In almost every instance I would send that file, once it is a direct maternal death, to an Expert Committee for further review.”The Committee comprises professionals from the Ministry of Health, and lay persons, including a few from the private sector, among them local eminent obstetricians. Having reviewed the documents, the Committee is usually expected to make a recommendation to the CMO, indicating what needs to be done in terms of disciplinary action.The Committee also seeks to determine whether there was a fault in the health institution under scrutiny or if there is a need for a change in the protocol and/or an approach to the management of said institution.According to Dr Persaud, “there are a number of different things that can lead to the unfortunate demise of a mother or newborn. They (the Committee) would usually advise and based on my own assessment, too, we would take the necessary action.”If found culpable, disciplinary action against health workers could range from suspensions or salary cuts to the removal of their names from the medical professionals’ register, thus preventing them from practicising.Dr Persaud however stressed that such measures are applied judiciously, since according to him “some cases are not clear cut. If there is no clear evidence that the medical personnel were negligent or guilty of malpractice, thus causing the death of an infant or a mother, we can’t just hand a verdict…”In administering disciplinary action,Adam Jones Orioles Jersey, efforts are made to take into context the personnel capacity of the institution, and the role of the administration is also scrutinised as well, the CMO informed. However, he noted that “the problem a lot of times is that some people just don’t turn up for duty and while every effort is made to carefully organise off-duties, some people don’t show up for work.”It was stressed that for this very reason, a standby plan has been introduced which requires that some off-duty staff assist when the system is under pressure. This move, Dr Persaud said, has been working well thus far, but he noted that “we don’t recognise and honour these staff enough sometimes.”Measures implementedAccording to the CMO, the Ministry of Health has been earnestly striving to build the service standards at the GPHC and the Regional hospitals. Measures include the re-establishment of a new operating theatre at the Maternal Ward of the GPHC, which Dr Persaud opined would help to solve a lot of the difficulties that have been encountered over the years.He noted too that more attention is usually directed to the premier medical institution, since it is tasked with more than one-third of the country’s deliveries.“About 80 per cent of the complicated deliveries are referred to the GPHC for attention and that is why it appears as though they have a higher rate when it comes to the outcomes that we see. This situation is merely because they service the whole country’s hospitals in a sense…because even patients at hospitals in the far-flung regions who develop complications during delivery and labour are sent to the GPHC.”However,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, even in the face of distant geographical locations,Andrew Desjardins Jersey, Dr Persaud revealed that more patients are today making it to the hospital. He noted too that with the launch of the new obstetric programme at the hospital “we are able to have about eight to 10 dedicated people, doctors particularly, and a stronger and more motivated nursing group that has been supporting the careful management of expectant mothers.”Additionally, plans have been implemented to direct more efforts towards infants.Dr Persaud emphasised that there are still challenges as it relates to stillbirths, adding that if things aren’t done in a very timely manner, complications can be the result.“When we talk about these emergencies, one hour is too long sometimes, so we have to really get into a mode where we can develop quickly, the response to these emergencies… so it is like a golden hour – where you have to do everything to save both baby and mother, and that is what we are aiming towards.”