KIÊN GIANG — The Ministry of Health has asked Kiên Giang Province’s Health Department to verify media reports about an infant’s death at Phú Quốc General Hospital and submit a report before August 1.

The ministry has instructed the hospital to hold a meeting to review the treatment and care given to the mother and the newborn and respond to the family’s and public’s concerns, following a report in the Tuổi Trẻ (Youth) newspaper.

On July 16, a 36-year-old pregnant woman, referred to as D.T.L, got admitted to Phú Quốc General Hospital for delivery. The medical staff instructed her to do an ultrasound scan and asked her and her husband, T, to wait while they finished breakfast. An hour later, when they returned, they found that the patient’s amniotic sac had ruptured. They found that the umbilical cord had wound around the foetus’ neck and doctors diagnosed respiratory problems and decided to operate immediately.

After the operation, her husband proposed moving his wife to the provincial hospital as she was weak, but the newspaper report claims the hospital refused to do so. It was only when the infant’s condition became critical that the hospital decided to transfer them. However, the newborn died by the time they reached the port to take a boat to the mainland.

T told the newspaper said that his wife had done four ultrasound scans at Dr Tấn’s clinic in Dương Đông Town and that the doctor had said the foetus was healthy and developing normally.

Dr Trương Văn Hữu, general director of Phú Quốc Hospital, said the hospital had followed all processes, and that the infant’s death was an irreversible obstetrical catastrophe.

Fifty minutes after the patient was admitted to the hospital, she was operated upon, Hữu said. Doctors found that the umbilical cord had wound around the infant’s neck when the patient was in labour and decided to do an emergency surgery.

They refused to move them to another hospital as doctors had to do the recuperation process after the operation, Hữu explained, adding that by the time the operation was over, there was no boat for the patients to go to the mainland as it was too late.

Hữu also said that his hospital is not aware of the results of any ultrasound scans done by Dr Tấn. He does not work for Phú Quốc hospital. — VNS