In response to the 8 recommendations made in Parliament on Tuesday 29th March, Dr Kailesh Jagutpal has made it clear in his reply that the report on the 11 dialysis patients, who died at New Souillac Hospital, cannot be made public but that the 4 recommendations of the Fact Finding Committee (FFC) were 90% followed. He retorted likewise during the National Communications Committee (NCC) on 30th March.
Dr Jagutpal’s explanations
The report will not be made public despite the demands of the families, activists and Opposition’s members. Minister Jagutpal has confirmed that all parties involved are operating under specific legislations. “Health professionals operate under the Nursing Council, the Pharmacy Council, the Health Allied Professional Council and the Medical Council. Cases of alleged medical negligence have been brought before the Medical Tribunal.” He also recalled the facts as of February 2021, “that out of the 81 patients undergoing dialysis treatment at New Souillac Hospital, only 2 had given their consent for the vaccine“. He went on to explain the situation to date, “We have 600 dialysis patients infected with Covid 19 out of the total 1,500 dialysis patients. To date, 98% of dialysis patients have received their booster dose. There are only 2% who do not want to be vaccinated,” he said, attributing the cause and merit of the vaccination to the NCC on 30 March. “The mortality rate is also decreasing, even during the Delta variant period, thanks to the vaccination.” However, he does not give in to the persistent demands to release this report. He says that these are records that contain a range of sensitive and confidential patient data
FFC’s recommendations
90% of the recommendations were followed. This was called for the decree of ‘restricted areas‘ within hospitals giving access only to patients and nursing staffs. All staffs must be fully vaccinated and dialysis patients must be fully vaccinated within the dialysis centres/clinics to avoid exposure in the waiting lines. The FCC also calls for the education of these high-risk patients about the virus and what they are exposed to as dialysis patients. Staffs will be required to wear double masks and undergo regular PCR testing. Staffs are also prohibited from bringing food and drink to the workplace. Among the recommendations is also the implementation and enforcement of Tele-Health. The Ministry of Health says that this recommendation will take some time to be implemented. At the NCC conference on 30th March, Dr Kailesh Jagutpal promised that all instances of his ministry will be in conformity with the specifications and recommendations of the FFC.
