anagement of St Dominic Hospital has refuted claims of medical negligence that led to the decay of the right hand of a one-year-old baby.
A nursing mother, Lydia Dagadu, speaking with Akoma morning show, GhanAkoma alleged a poorly inserted cannula by a clinician at the hospital led to swelling of the hand of the baby.
“They are twins. The elder twin is the one they have damaged the hand. I went to the hospital with the baby on November 31, 2021, and on December 4, 2021, a doctor by the name Dr. Abu was trying to set the line for the cannula but was struggling to get the vein so he asked for help from another doctor. The next day my baby’s hand was swollen.
“When I started complaining they came to take away the cannula. They further conducted a scan and told me the hand of the boy was damaged, that they need to cut off the damaged hand which I opposed. I insisted they explain to me what caused it but they refused”.
But in a press statement, management described the allegations as untrue.
“The baby (second twin), together with his brother, a set of twins delivered pre-term at the hospital in August 2020 was admitted to the Neo Natal Intensive-Care Unit (NICU) for medical reasons. Upon recovery from the NICU, the baby was sent to Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC)) to gain weight and was fully discharged after about two months.
“The mother of the baby returned him to the hospital in May 2021 with a complaint of a medical condition and upon examination, the mother was advised that the baby needed to be admitted to the hospital for proper and better medical care but the mother rejected the advice and returned home with the baby. After about 5 months later when the father and grandmother brought the twins to the hospital for assessment, no marked improvement was detected in the condition of both babies; and the said persons who brought them to the hospital this time attributed their conditions to causes that cannot be related in this release for good reasons.
“While performing routine protocol in the administration of medical care to the baby in December 2021, it became necessary to undertake an ultrasound scan on his hand which resulted in the detection of another medical condition for which the hospital prescribed a treatment. The mother once again rejected the advice.
“The hospital continued to manage the baby’s condition and upon his discharge the mother was to bring the baby for weekly review until she together with a number of family members and a journalist stormed the hospital and demanded for a meeting.
The hospital is assuring the public of continuous discharge of professional service.
Meanwhile, Legal practitioner, Francis-Xavier Sosu says he will file a medical malpractice lawsuit against the hospital to seek damages over the injury of the baby.