Not about allocating blame but public accountability in Hep C case: Leon Perera
(AP file photo)
In Parliament on Monday (4 April), Health Minister Gan Kim Yong was asked to name the Singapore General Hospital and Ministry of Health (MOH) staff disciplined in connection with the Hepatitis C outbreak, and elaborate on the penalties the individuals received. Gan did not reveal the names or penalties, saying that creating a blame culture does not contribute to better care of patients.
“The greatest penalty is not disciplinary measures for everyone involved, including those who have provided direct care to the affected patients. We will carry with us the pain and regret of this incident for a long time to come,” he said.
In a response posted on Facebook, Non-Constituency Member of Parliament Leon Perera of the Workers’ Party wrote that he had hoped to pose Supplementary Questions about the penalties given to hospital staff and Ministry of Health officials.
Perera asked, “If the public does not know what actions (or inaction) met with what warning or penalty, how do these penalties act as a deterrent to others?
He added, “If the lapses were not that serious, as suggested by the fact that only financial penalties and warnings were given, what harm would be done to the individuals for that information to be disclosed? It would, in fact, help clear their name of suspicion of more serious misconduct. After all, their current and likely future employers would probably know of these penalties, so they would suffer no further career disadvantage from such disclosure.”
Perera also pointed out that without disclosing the names of those who were penalised in the incident, other senior staff at SGH and MOH may have to live with public suspicion that they were involved in the incident or committed lapses that they were not responsible for.
Perera stressed that his questions were about ensuring a culture of public accountability and strengthening public confidence in Singapore’s healthcare system.
Last October, a Hepatitis C outbreak affected 25 renal ward patients at the Singapore General Hospital. Eight of these patients died.
A dozen hospital leaders and four Ministry of Health officers were held responsible following the outbreak.
