The Tribune

By LETRE SWEETING

lsweeting@tribunemedia.net

THE husband of Kenise Darville said he is left with more questions than answers following the completion of a probe by the Public Hospitals Authority into the death of his wife at Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) last month.

On January 19, the mother-of-three died after being admitted to the PMH two weeks earlier. A week before her death, Mrs Darville went live on Facebook in an isolation room located at the Women’s Medical Ward of PMH.

In the video, Mrs Darville was appealing for blood. She had a dangerously low platelet count and doctors, who had initially said they would order the platelets for her, reportedly came back and told her they had not been ordered, asking her to organise people to donate blood instead.

 The video of her plea went viral, sparking public outrage while prompting other persons to share their alleged bad experiences at the hospital.

 In the wake of the controversy, Health and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville announced that an investigation was underway. This followed calls for answers from Mrs Darville’s family surrounding the circumstances of her death.

 Yesterday, Jerard Darville told The Tribune that following the close of the investigation and a meeting with hospital officials last Thursday, PHA had taken responsibility for the negligence shown in the case of his wife.

 However, Mr Darville said when he asked for the names of specific individuals responsible for his wife’s care at the time and any repercussions for those individuals, nothing could be provided for him.

 “I hope to make proper use of the media, and just begin to dig further so that the proper questions could be asked and to the right persons so that this information could be made public. The only thing that we can do is to agitate for justice to be applied,” Mr Darville said.

 “When would somebody be named? When will persons be held accountable, because what they have told me, they have reached the end of their investigations. And at the end of the investigations there was no names named to be held responsible and that brings no justice for my family.

 “Now my family cannot go after the persons who are ultimately responsible for it, instead of it being the PHA (Public Hospitals Authority), because we know if we go after the PHA, we’re actually going after taxpayers and not the persons who are actually responsible for the negligence.

 “The point being is that the PHA knows exactly who it is, and for them not to say who it was, because I asked specifically, who was the chief medical consultant in charge of my wife’s case,” Mr Darville said.

 “There (also) has to be a nursing manager who assists the doctor in the reading of notes and the upkeep of medicine. There has to be a medical officer as well in charge of my wife’s file, in charge of my wife’s case. Who is the pathologist that didn’t look at my wife’s bone marrow biopsy for two months. There has to be an administrator who has oversight. These persons have to be named,” Mr Darville said.

 “If we are not doing these things, then we are not doing these things right. This is how you see gross negligence in the care (of patients) and in health care overall,” he said.

 About how his children are coping, Mr Darville said: “Nobody is doing alright. They’re just trying to find their different way of coping.”

 Following Mrs Darville’s death last month, her husband made an emotional appeal for the public healthcare system to be changed.

 “You should never have to be dying and trying to find blood,” Jerad Darville said at a press conference held after her death. “On her dying bed, you ask her to find blood. Where was she to go? Oh, my Lord, be fair. Where was she to go for help?”

 In the wake of her death, Minister Darville had previously admitted to there being “elements of possible malpractice” at the hospital and said it was up to officials to minimise such incidents.

 PHA officials and Dr Darville were not available for comment up to the time of going to press.