Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for Health in Parliament today;
(a) what are the names of the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) and Ministry staff who have been disciplined in connection with the Hepatitis C hospital infection cluster in 2015;
(b) what are the penalties and/or warnings that they individually received; and
(c) for what reasons have these penalties and/or warnings been given in each case.

In response to his questions, Minister of Health, Mr Gan Kim Yong said that there were in total, four officers from the Ministry of Health (MOH) holding Director-level or equivalent roles and 12 SGH leaders including senior management were punished.

He said, “Instead of focusing on naming the individuals and developing a blame culture in our healthcare institutions, we need to encourage a learning culture to make our hospitals as safe as possible for our patients,”

“This culture of continual learning and improvement is important for enhancing patient safety and the quality of care.”

“In deciding what to disclose, we have to bear in mind the longer-term impact on our healthcare system and healthcare workers, and strike a careful balance.”

“When a warning is issued, it is lodged in the staff’s service record. A stern warning is a more serious penalty. Not only is it entered into the staff’s service record, it has a negative bearing on his career, including future promotion and awards. A warning or stern warning may be given together with a fine,”

“But the greatest penalty is not these disciplinary measures. For everyone involved, including those who had provided direct care to the affected patients, we will carry with us the pain and regret of this incident for a long time.”

In response to a separate question put forth by Tampines MP Cheng Li Hui who asked what were the measures put in place to prevent the Hepatitis C incident from happening again, Mr Gan said, “SGH has taken steps to improve infection control by enhancing its processes and strengthening cleaning and decontamination of potentially contaminated surfaces,”

“SGH also enhanced its education and training programmes for staff, and implemented stricter monitoring of infection control practices. To verify that its systems are up to mark, SGH has engaged consultants from the Joint Commission International, a reputable accreditation and consultancy organisation, to conduct a thorough review and assessment of its clinical processes.”

Mr Gan also said, “This includes setting up a National Outbreak Response Team comprising experts from across the healthcare fraternity…This team will augment the efforts of healthcare institutions to deal with disease outbreaks.”

He added, “Other measures include simplifying processes for notification and reporting of infectious diseases by doctors and laboratories. MOH has also designated the Communicable Diseases Division to assume overall responsibility for overseeing surveillance of all infectious diseases,”

The Hepatitis C incident that took place between April and June 2015 saw 25 affected and 7 deaths likely contributed from the infection at the end of the whole saga. SGH came out to inform public about the incident only months after the outbreak had took place in order to screen all the patients that have gone through its renal clinic. MOH stated that it was only informed in late August last year about the outbreak.

Read here – MOH informed of Hepatitis C infections by June, not late August

Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
You May Also Like

Tharman’s indignance is misplaced – Lacking focus on spreading the fruits of economic growth more evenly.

While I would agree with Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam (DPM) that…

29人食用食物后出现肠胃炎 餐饮业者被吊销营业执照

29人食用一家餐饮业者所准备的食物后患病,该餐饮业者被吊销营业执照。 卫生部与食品局联合发出声明,据了解,29人在食用餐饮业者Taj Catering在所准备的食物后出现肠胃炎的症状,其中一名受害者更是被送医治疗,目前已出院。 随后,卫生部于食品局对制作食物现场进行联合调查发现,场内含多处卫生缺失。 卫生局与食品局表示,工厂内所有食品处理人员必须参加并通过基本食品卫生课程才能复工,而食品卫生管理人员也同样需要参加和通过食品卫生课程。此外,该公司的餐饮部必须要重新清洁与消毒,包括所有准备材料的设备和用具。 食品局呼吁餐饮业者必须时刻保持食物与个人卫生干净,一旦被发现违规,将会原因《环境公共卫生法》采取严厉的行动。如公众对于食品卫生习惯有任何疑问或详情,请洽询该机构进行调查,电话:6805-2871.  

Roy Ngerng starts fundraising to pay PM Lee for his outstanding defamation damages; Over S$12,000 raised in a day

Blogger and activist, Roy Ngerng raises over S$12,000 in just a day…