The head of the Port of Spain General Hospital's (PoSGH) Infection Prevention and Control department, who was sent on administrative leave after the deaths of several babies at the hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), has returned to work.

Dr Darrel Jones was sent on leave by the North West Regional Health Authority’s (NWRHA) board as it initiated an internal investigation into the deaths, which occurred after a bacterial outbreak at the NICU.

In a media release last Thursday the authority said Jones “shall proceed on administrative leave pending the conclusion of the relevant investigations into the demise of the seven neonates at the NICU,” between April 4 and 9.

It added, “As the investigation matures, the NWRHA may make further recommendations for suspension if deemed necessary to advance the investigation.”

Last week, head of the Nursing Association Idi Stuart described the decision to send Jones on leave as “unfortunate” and said he was being made a scapegoat.

“He may be an expected fallout. He would be a low-hanging fruit, which the RHA could point to that they are doing something.”

Newsday understands Jones returned to work earlier this week after just days on leave.

Stuart told Newsday he believes this is because Jones’s input will be critical to the independent investigation into the recent bacterial outbreak being done by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

On April 24 the Ministry of Health said the three-person team from PAHO, which arrived on April 22, had begun its work.

The team includes university professor Dr Nalini Singh, clinical microbiologist Dr Grisel Rodriguez and head of the NICU at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in Barbados Dr Gillian Birchwood.

“It will be important for PAHO to conduct the investigation properly. If the infection prevention control head is not there, it would have proved an inefficient report.”

Chairman of the NWRHA Lisa Agard told Newsday she could not confirm whether Jones was back at work, or, if so, the reasoning behind this decision.

She said, though, she believes he will have information the investigators may need.

“It is my understanding, obviously, that PAHO would want to speak to as many people as possible who were involved in the management of the NICU in any way. So it may well be that there was a requirement for him to participate in the PAHO (investigation).”

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