The Medical Council of Guyana (MCG) can discipline doctors for malpractice but nurses have to be sanctioned by the Nurses Association, a source close to the medical council noted yesterday.

The source also said that the medical council has not been formally notified by the administration of the Georgetown Public Hospital about its decision to forward to it the case of last month’s death of a young mother.

The hospital had launched the investigation into the death of 22-year-old Somatie Singh on September 29 in the maternity ward of the hospital. Singh, of Mahaicony Creek, died after she was forced to walk to the washroom instead of being given a bedpan, which her relatives had repeatedly asked for.

The patient had a pre-existing heart condition which doctors had detected and which required her to wear an oxygen mask at all times. Relatives say a nursing assistant removed the mask, something the assistant denies.

A source in the MCG yesterday told Stabroek News that the council only learnt of the hospital’s intention from the newspapers.

A Government Information Agency (GINA) release on Tuesday had stated that the hospital had completed its investigation and had along with the Guyana Nurses Association decided to submit the report to the council. The council is expected to determine whether a further investigation was necessary.

“We have not seen any formal papers nor have we been informed by the hospital,” the source said. The source pointed out that the council did not normally deal with cases involving nurses.

Meanwhile, the source said the council had heard conflicting reports about the young mother’s treatment. The council was told unofficially that the young woman had a pre-existing heart problem which was diagnosed at the hospital and which apparently the doctors did not properly manage. They said should they be approached the council would first send for the charts of both the doctors and nurses in connection with Singh.

The council would take some form of disciplinary action against a doctor if, following an investigation, the doctor is found to have breached procedures.

The council will also investigate what transpired on the actual day and if it is found that the nurse and nursing assistant are in anyway culpable, the report would be forwarded to the Nurses Association.

Only that association has the right to discipline nurses, the source said. The findings of the council could also be forwarded to the Minister of Health for him to take the necessary action. “A lot depends on what comes to us,” the source said.

Yesterday, the mother of the woman, Baby Sankar said that the family had not been formally informed by the hospital about its findings. She said they only learnt of the hospital’s decision from the newspapers.