The Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) yesterday said that it intends to swiftly implement recommendations for action, if required, as a probe into the death of 45-year-old Shonnata Rowena Sawh got underway.
A statement from the hospital yesterday afternoon in response to reports of neglect and negligence, said that the GPHC is committed to implementing the necessary actions.
“We are committed to a thorough investigation; where action is required, we are committed to act swiftly on those recommendations of that investigation” the statement said. Sawh was admitted to the GPHC for cholecystectomy (gallstone removal surgery) but died 48 hours after the surgery. It was pointed out yesterday in the hospital release that even though Sawh was admitted with underlying morbidities, it was sufficiently controlled to facilitate the medical procedure.
“A careful review of the timelines in the patient’s records indicate that the patient was admitted on Tuesday, November 15, 2022, for the elective procedure with underlying morbidities which her team ascertained were sufficiently controlled to allow medical clearance for the procedure. On Wednesday, November 16, 2022, Ms. Sawh underwent what was described as an uneventful surgery, recovered from anaesthesia, and was transferred to the wards for further recovery as per standard operating procedure. On Thursday, November 17, 2022, the patient’s condition started to deteriorate to the point where ICU care was required. Subse-quently, while receiving care in the ICU the patient succumbed on Friday, November 18, 2022.
“While we will not divulge the specifics of the patient’s diagnosis and medical management, we are committed to a thorough investigation; where action is required, we are committed to act swiftly on those recommendations of that investigation. Addi-tionally, we remain committed to providing any support and information to the family of Ms. Sawh as they mourn her unfortunate loss”, the GPHC added.
The family related to Stabroek News on Sunday that the now deceased Sawh was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday morning (November 15), but faced difficulty in locating a bed. Her father explained that when he visited her on Tuesday around noon, she informed him she was still waiting for a bed to be assigned to her. At the same time, she was contemplating whether to go home and return Wednes-day for the surgery. How-ever, she was assigned a bed and underwent surgery as scheduled. On Wednes-day afternoon (November 16), her father said when he visited she was awake and said that she was in good spirits. Shonnata was initially a patient at a private city hospital but was advised by doctors to have the surgery done at GPHC.
On Thursday, Shonnata’s condition took an unexpected turn for the worse, her mother related to Stabroek News. “When I go there Thursday, she said whole night she vomit. As soon as I could have ask her anything else, she ask for the (bed) pan. She didn’t had no strain or anything, this vomiting just keep flow out. Within seconds this (bed) pan full,” the mother Annie Sawh related from their Mon Repos home. She told her mother that the nurses knew of her situation and gave her the bedside pan. The mother said when they visited early Thursday morning, a nurse’s aide was testing her pressure and checking her vitals. The aide checked her pressure twice and when the now deceased woman asked how the results were looking, the nurse’s aide said that it was not good and told her the blood pressure levels were not “okay.”
“She was so weak I didn’t know…she said she wanted to go the washroom and I said she taking long but she had to sponge herself down because the nurses said she had to do it. A person that is sick like that and did surgery they should have assisted,” the mother lamented. The mother further stated when she checked on her daughter she observed her perspiring “and she said `mommy I am very weak’ and I took her back to her bed.”
Shonnata’s father explained that when he returned on Thursday afternoon for the final visit of the day, he saw his daughter’s bed surrounded by doctors. “Maybe all the doctors from the hospital were there fighting up, I figured something was wrong but I walked in and they tell me go outside. I told them I was her father and they said go out… you know about three to five minutes after she lost consciousness and they said she crashed!” Shonnata had suffered cardiac arrest and was rushed to the Intensive Care Unit for emergency treatment but later died; her family was at her bedside at her final moments.
The parents said that the doctors are blaming the nurses for failing to record what was happening to their daughter. One doctor claimed that she visited Shonnata in the morning and everything was okay, but the father believes that was not the case as his daughter had already said that she did not have any visits. The mother further stated that if indeed a doctor had visited her daughter during the course of the day, she would have questioned them as to what was happening. The family believes the complications leading to their daughter’s demise were as a result of poor post–operative care by doctors as she was in good spirits after the surgery.
Her family is calling for a comprehensive investigation into the post-operative care given to patients at the facility. They believe this is where health professionals erred as Shonnata’s health deteriorated while in post operative care at the hospital.
“The surgery was successful and everything went ok the Wednesday…however it is the aftercare that killed her. Her pressure plunged to 80/70, and no one did nothing. No doctor checked on her until Thursday when she was at her weakest and by the afternoon she was dead. Only then they realized also that she did not even pass urine,” her mother told Stabroek News.
