…says Mohamed distorting newborn case for political theatre

The Administrator of the Enmore Regional Hospital, Dr Badyel Bakhsh, has rejected claims by United States (US)-sanctioned and indicted Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed about the hospital’s handling of a newborn, saying the transfer of the child was part of the public healthcare system’s referral process and not evidence of a failing health system. In a letter to the editor, Bakhsh said Mohamed’s recent commentary on the transfer of the newborn from Enmore Regional Hospital sought to create the impression that the facility did not have neonatal ventilators.

“That is simply false,” Bakhsh said. According to the hospital administrator, Enmore had neonatal ventilators at the time, but the equipment was being used to care for other critically ill babies. He said the medical team stabilised the newborn, identified available capacity elsewhere in the public health system and safely transferred the child. The child, he added, is alive and well. Bakhsh argued that the incident demonstrated the referral system functioning as intended. “No serious person should expect every hospital to have unlimited intensive-care capacity at every moment,” he said, noting that modern healthcare systems depend on networks of hospitals, specialist services, referrals and transfers. He said what matters is whether a patient is stabilised, appropriately transferred and receives the necessary care.