Letters To The Editor
NO MORE DEATHS FROM CLINICAL NEGLIGENCE AND FAILURE IN DUTY OF CARE
Sir, Tony Pillay known as TP “died” on Thursday 18th May 2006 at the
a) gross clinical negligence and
b) failure in their duty of care by the operating staff who “forgot a cotton swab” in his abdomen during a surgical procedure carried out on Monday 23rd march 2006, in the operating theatre, at
The cotton swab caused a “serious infection” that led to his death, only fifty seven (57) days after his initial operation on the 23rd March 2006.
Up until the 9th May 2006, the surgical team used a “verbal policy” to manage cotton swabs during surgical procedures; in my view a verbal policy equals no policy because it puts the patient’s life at “risk” every time a surgical procedure is performed.
However, I have at my own initiative developed a “universal checking policy of swabs, instruments, sharps and needles count, managing the risk (working document) on 09th May 2006, for the operating theatre and I have passed it on to the Ministry of Health. I do hope the Ministry Of Health will use it to “manage the risks” in the operating theatre from now on.
It saddens me that Tony Pillay (TP) did not die from the cancer he had; instead it was the cotton swab that was “forgotten in his abdomen”, which caused the “fatal infection” that led to his very painful, excruciating and early untimely death on 18th May 2006.
The reasons I have gone “public” are:
1) no other patient should suffer and die such a painful, excruciating untimely early death, like my beloved younger brother TP.
2) no other family should suffer the nightmare and ordeal that we as a family have gone through.
3) TP’s death will not be in vain and that the staff concerned in the operating theatre, will guarantee the health and safety of all patients undergoing any surgical procedure by delivering holistic care with the patient at the centre of best practice.
Doris Tamatave,
(Editor: The writer is a qualified nurse practicing in the
THE INDEPENDENT SHOWS ITS RACIST COLOURS
Sir, Please allow me some space in your esteemed newspaper to reply to the Seychelles Independent’s “Old Man Jolicoeur in Alliance PPB” (Volume 1 Number 9 18/07/06).
I was shocked to read how the editor of the Seychelles Independent was prepared to attack an ordinary man so tastelessly. I remember reading that the Independent editor’s tripe was reserved for the ‘character assessment’ of Opposition politicians. I never knew that Old Man Jolicoeur fell in that category. I do know though that he is the father of the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, someone with whom the writer ‘has remained friends throughout all these years.’ With friends like this….!
In his article the editor has shamelessly accused Mr. Jolicoeur of suffering from “House Slave Mentality”, or “Uncle Tom Syndrome”. In that issue of Seychelles Independent the editor argued that this means “a black person afflicted with this syndrome has the urge to look up and be subservient to what they consider to be white people of stature”
Is it not more pertinent to ask if the same thing cannot be said of the SPPF supporters?
Baron Winston Churchill Jolicoeur (Jr.)
NIE IGNORES RULES ON POLITICAL PARAPHERNALIA
Sir, It is my second and final year at the National Institute of Education (N.I.E). I am twenty years of age, and I feel that the institution is unfair when it comes to standing by the set code of conduct, especially now during the time of election.
It is said and written that in all schools, institutions and work places that anything to do with politics, be it pens, umbrellas or any thing bearing political logos, as well as political discussions should be kept outside the institution.
If this is so, I dare to ask myself, how come many students, including those who spoke for the SPPF party on TV this week are wearing their JJ pendant, and using their JJ pens in school, and nothing is said about it by the management.
Is it right for lectures to discuss the SPPF rally in the school with trainees? As a supporter of the opposition, I am also speaking for many of my colleagues, where we find ourselves in a position where we are unable to say anything, for the time being, because we are now unsure whether our assignment will be marked based on its quality or the lecturer’s political opinion.
Many of us at the NIE are first time voters, is this the way that the SPPF is trying to manipulate us? Ever if they are in power, ‘at the moment’ what rights have they got to use to use such an institution as their political playing field?
We are trainee teachers, full of intelligence we have heard enough, seen enough and even experienced a lot. This is a time to be democratic, but we find that our institution is as corrupt as the existing administration.
Is this what they are training us to do in the future?
N.I.E. Student