GPHC Paediatric team to fly out on “retreat”

…as investigation into deaths of 3 children continues

Amidst tensions surrounding the deaths of three innocent children that occurred at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), the Paediatric team is expected to fly out of the country next month on a retreat.
This was confirmed on Friday by a senior official at the hospital.
According to that health official, “It’s like a retreat. What we do basically is take them to a different location. The last time we had an educational as well as an interchange in our Department”.
He added, “I would love for other departments to have these little come (togethers or get-togethers), (where we) sit down and talk about our problems out of the environment of the hospital, because sometimes it’s healthier that way”.
This is not the first time that the team is going on one of these trips, the doctor has stated, while adding that they usually have such activities more than twice a year.
This newspaper was told that the team is expected to leave Guyana on March 2, 2019 to facilitate their “weekend retreat” in neighbouring Suriname.
A letter addressed to Dr. Rambarran but seen by this publication has said that the Paediatric Surgery Department has given up its operating day on Monday, March 4, to the Transplant team. This, according to the letter, is to facilitate the Department’s retreat, beginning on March 2 and ending on March 4.
“We are planning on going to Suriname. In preparation, permission was sought and obtained from DMPS and PSM for the relevant team members to be allowed to make the trip,” the letter read.
It was explained that health practitioners on the trip would be funding themselves, while the Department would be monitored by other staffers during their trip.
However, Junior Minister within the Public Health Ministry, Dr Karen Cummings, had stated that investigation into the deaths of three children: Sharezer Mendonca, Roshani Seegobin and Curwayne Edwards, would have been concluded, but the findings are yet to be released.
As the investigations continue, Guyana Times was told that the family of Sharezer Mendonca, the third child to have died after receiving pre-chemotherapy treatment at GPHC in January, claimed that they were made a compensation offer by a senior hospital official to bury the matter.
Sherry Ann Mendonca, aunt of the six-year-old child, has said the family has also been kept in the dark, which leads them to believe that the investigation may not be as independent as it should be. Mendonca feels that top officials at the hospital may be trying to cover up the alleged wrongdoings.
Major public outrage was sparked after the three children lost their lives under questionable circumstances at the Georgetown Public Hospital.