Page 4816 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 11 November 2009
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The next question I have is: what are the procedures? There is clearly confusion. I quote from ABC News Online:
The ACT Government has contradicted chief medical officer Charles Guest about whether ACT Health is investigating a possible breach of policy at the Canberra Hospital.
Dr Guest told ABC Radio this morning that an investigation is underway into a possible policy breach that led to a number of adults and newborns being exposed to tuberculosis.
ACT Health is testing four babies and up to 80 adults who may have been exposed …
Queanbeyan doctor and mother Jeannie Ellis says her newborn baby was exposed when another woman’s partner was allowed to stay overnight in a shared maternity ward.
Dr Ellis says it was against hospital policy.
But Dr Guest says overnight stays are permitted in certain circumstances.
“Women who request a support person to stay overnight to provide them with extra support or to help care for their baby will be allocated a single room … if available,” he said.
“Women who require support for other reasons such as still birth or neonatal death may have a support person present.
“The principle that we are keen to maintain here is that contact between newborn babies and their parents is very important.”
He refused to rule out or express whether the case that we are referring to here involved a stillborn or a medical problem of that nature. The article continued:
But Dr Guest told the ABC that ACT Health is investigating whether the policy was breached in this particular case.
“Whether there was some problem is something that does require investigation and that’s happening now,” he said.
“We’re very sorry this has happened, we’re very sorry for the distress.
“But it has happened and then it’s a question of making the best follow up to promote safety and wellbeing for everybody concerned.”
But after Dr Guest made the comments, a spokeswoman for Health Minister Katy Gallagher told the ABC there was no breach of policy.
She says there is no … review into the policy allowing partners to stay overnight.
So what is going on? I think that the situation needs to be clarified. What are the procedures? Were there any breaches? Is there an investigation? Why is it that the
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