Committee submits report about death at Women's Hospital

A committee formed to investigate the case of a Qatari woman, who died while giving birth at the Hamad Medical Corporation's (HMC) Women's Hospital, has submitted its report to the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) .

The Ministry had ordered a probe into the circumstances surrounding the death of the woman on May 22.

In a statement issued by MoPH on Wednesday, it pointed out that the HMC has finished the procedures of investigation into the death of the woman with the help of local and international expertise.

"The procedures followed in such case include the formation of an investigation committee at the hospital that would submit its report to the HMC and then the MoPH.

"The result of the HMC investigations was submitted to the MoPH Permanent Licensing Committee yesterday. Besides, the Department of Professional Efficiency at Qatar Council for Healthcare Practitioners (QCHP) under the MoPH is investigating the case. In addition, a number of expert physicians from outside the country have been nominated to study the issue. The family of the deceased woman will be told the result of the investigation as soon as the process is concluded and the necessary actions will be taken accordingly."

Meanwhile, MoPH has reiterated its condolences to the bereaved family.

The husband of the victim had alleged negligence on the part of the medical team that attended to his wife's delivery at the hospital.

Narrating the incident to Arabic daily Arrayah, he said his wife had gone to the Emergency Department of the Women's Hospital on May 21 afternoon after she felt severe pain but the doctor who saw her told her the case was not urgent.

"She was given some antibiotics and admitted at the hospital for treatment."

According to him, his wife continued to be in labour until the dawn of the next day, when the nurses took her to the delivery room. Nurses told her they would give her the necessary anesthetic injection, and took the necessary procedures to prepare her for a normal delivery.

The man said that his wife was left in pain for some time before a doctor came to see her.

"She told him that the gynecologist who has been doing the regular check-ups and following up her pregnancy had advised her to deliver through a caesarean section, but the doctor did not listen. As her case started to deteriorate due to excessive bleeding and she showed signs of heart failure, she was taken to the operation room for a caesarean surgery."

The man told the daily that the doctor who was handling the case told him that she had suffered a number strokes and internal bleeding after the operation. Accordingly, the doctor told him that they had to remove her uterus.

"About an hour later, the medical staff told me that she has a clot in her lung and her heart has stopped beating a number of times, but her condition was stable and they would have to transfer her to the Intensive Care Unit at the Hamad General Hospital (HGH), because they did not have the necessary equipment to handle the case.

"Eventually, she was declared dead when she arrived at the HGH and the doctor there told me that she had died before she arrived at the hospital (HGH)." The newborn baby survived the incident.

The man has demanded a thorough investigation to identify the causes that led to his wife's death and fix responsibility.

The issue was hotly debated on the social media, where users demanded "a quick and just investigation" into the incident.

Some of the tweets published by the paper showed the anguish and disappointment of the people who expressed their full support to the widower and the family.

"They have every right to a detailed account of what really happened during the operation. People found to be responsible for her death have to be dealt with according to the law."

Some other tweets stressed that steps should be taken to ensure that the medical personnel are really qualified and competent to deal with such critical cases. Almost all tweets expressed condolences and solidarity with the family of the deceased woman.

Courtesy: gulf-times.com