It’s been about a month since the incident happened, and it seems like everyone is finally getting some closure.
The Ministry of Health has completed its investigations and concluded that the miscarriage did not happen because of the two-hour wait.
The Ministry has also outlined some changes that the National University Hospital (NUH) will be implementing to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
Viral Facebook Post on Miscarriage at NUH
Before we dive into new details, here’s a quick recap of what happened and how everyone responded.
Facebook user Mee Pok Tah’s made a viral Facebook post about the treatment his pregnant wife experienced while at NUH. Following that, NUH conducted investigations regarding the incident.
A few days after his initial post, he wrote a second Facebook post, which indicated that NUH had clarified various facts regarding his wife’s condition through a few meetings and that the “matter has been resolved”.
You can read up on the details of the second post here.
Health Minister Ong Ye Kung also made a post about this incident, saying that MOH and NUH will conduct a thorough investigation.
And now, the results of the investigation are out.
NUH’s Processes Did Not Cause The Miscarriage
On 27 April, MOH said NUH had conducted a thorough investigation into the incident. They reviewed video footage and interviewed all staff involved.
The investigation was carried out by a team of NUH senior doctors and nurses from the emergency department (ED), obstetrics and gynaecology (O&G) department, and the clinical governance-medical affairs team.
The verdict? MOH announced that the processes and communications did not contribute to the miscarriage.
Basically, they’re saying that the two-hour wait at the A&E was not the cause of the miscarriage. It seems like the miscarriage happened even before the pregnant lady reached the A&E.
Additionally, NUH has met with the patient and her husband multiple times to fully explain the situation. It was said that the couple had accepted their explanations.
However, MOH acknowledged that there were still flaws in their current processes that need to be rectified.
Current Protocol and Implementing of New Measures
NUH had a rapid access protocol for pregnant patients with signs of labour. After assessment by the ED, they’re to be transferred directly to the delivery suite to be assessed by the O&G team.
However, on the day of the incident, there was an unusually high number of patients at the ED, and the delivery suite was full. This led to the protocol breaking down, and resulted in the two-hour wait.
To prevent similar incidents from recurring, NUH will be implementing some new measures.
Firstly, patients who are waiting for transfer to the delivery suite will be assessed by the ED nurse and doctor, who will then communicate with O&G.
Pregnant patients may also be evaluated using ultrasound at the ED if necessary. A standard obstetric assessment score will also be used in the ED to assess pregnant patients.
After the O&G doctor has reviewed the situation, foetal heart monitoring will be done at the ED while waiting for transfer to the delivery suite.
MOH has since shared NUH’s investigation findings with the senior management of all public hospitals.
Featured Image: Facebook (Mee Pok Tah)