Minister of Health, Hon. Horace Dalley says he is satisfied that the required procedures were followed by the management of the Kingston Public/Victoria Jubilee Hospitals before the order was given on Friday (November 27, 2015) to proceed with the burial of the bodies of babies who died at the facility in keeping with standard practice.
Minister Dalley had directed the Management of the KPH/VJH to halt all actions being taken to bury the bodies of the babies until he received detailed clarification of the circumstances surrounding the burial orders.
“While the records of the VJH show that all families have signed the consent form for the State to bury these babies, for the next 48 hours we will reconfirm with mothers if they wish to bury the babies themselves,” Minister Dalley said.
While the State has a responsibility to bury the babies after the required procedures have been followed, the Minister says given the sensitivity and emotions attached to the issue, he has directed the hospitals’ management to contact the families who may want to reconsider and do the burials themselves. Families can also contact the hospital if they wish to do so.
Minister Dalley met with the Management of the KPH/VJH, officials from the South East Regional Health Authority and a team from the Ministry of Health including the Permanent Secretary and the Chief Medical Officer today, November 29, 2015 at the Ministry’s head office.
SERHA officials including the administration of the KPH/VJH explained that they had recently implemented measures to treat with the delays in the issuing of burial orders which explained the numbers that were handed over for burial this month.
These include closely collaborating with pathologists to speed up the time it takes to do post mortems and expediting the issuing of burial orders and death certificates by the Registrar General’s Department.
The Senior Medical Officer at the VJH and the management of SERHA will be available to provide any further clarification that may be required.