Tag Archives: Hepatitis C

In parliament on 4 April 2016, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said that naming the staff responsible for the hepatitis C outbreak at the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) last year will be detrimental to the healthcare system and healthcare workers. He added that if the individuals were named, it would lead to a "blame culture". Mr Gan was responding to questions from Non-Constituency MP Leon Perera and Ms Cheng Li Hui (Tampines GRC) about the case.

In updates given on Thursday afternoon (17 March 2016), the Ministry of Health and Singapore General Hospital announced disciplinary action taken against 4 MOH and 12 SGH officials for falling short in last year's Hepatitis C outbreak. The outbreak affected 25 renal patients resulting in 8 deaths. MOH and SGH declined to reveal the identities of the personnel punished.

The Independent Review Committee set up by MOH placed blame on SGH staff for the Hepatitis C virus outbreak. According to the report, SGH staff broke multiple rules of infection control. Due to the outbreak, seven patients were infected and passed away with Hepatitis C as a contributory factor. Police investigations have ruled out foul play. MOH, SGH and SingHealth will appoint a human resource panel to determine accountability for the outbreak. The panels will investigate the roles, responsibilities and actions of all key staff and determine if disciplinary action will be meted out.

The Singapore Police Force (SPF) have released a statement today declaring that investigations have no revealed any evidence to suggest foul play in one of Singapore's biggest healthcare scandals to date. In October this year, the Singapore General Hospital announced that it had informed the Ministry of Health about a spate of Hepatitis C infections, which may have stemmed from improper syringe handling procedures. The subsequent public outcry over the lapses, and the large number of patients affected at SGH's renal ward, prompted the hospital to lodge a police report to determine if any foul play was involved.

The Workers’ Party welcomes the broadening of the remit of the independent review committee to include review of MOH’s procedures and actions. Drawing the right lessons from the outbreak of the Hepatitis C virus infections at the renal ward of the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) is critical for Singapore. It is tragic that four individuals may have lost their lives as a result of these infections in one of our leading healthcare institutions, and one more person may have died for reasons possibly related to the infections.

The Singapore General Hospital (SGH) has filed a police report today over the disastrous Hepatitis C cluster found in its renal ward. "After initial internal investigation, we are still unable to determine the cause of the cluster of infection. Currently, an Independent Review Committee appointed by MOH is looking into this with the help of international advisors. The police report has been filed so that the police may ascertain if there was any foul play," SGH said in its statement today.

The Ministry of Health published a public rebuttal admonishing national newspaper The Straits Times for suggesting that the delay in Hepatitis C announcement was for political reasons. MOH claims that the allegations are completely baseless and claims that Singaporeans expect higher standards of journalism from our newspapers.

The SDP sends our condolences to the bereaved families of those who died from the recent Hepatitis C outbreak at the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) as well as to those who are infected by this serious viral infection. What is disturbing, however, is the non-transparent manner in which the incident was handled by the Government. Information about the outbreak apparently first emerged between April 17 and May 14 this year when the first five cases of the hepatitis C infections were reported by the SGH to the Ministry of Health (MOH).

In what may be the biggest public health fiasco in Singapore's recent history, the Singapore General Hospital has admitted that close to 1000 patients may have to undergo screenings as they may have been exposed to the risk of Hepatitis C when they sought treatment at the hospital between April and last month. SGH is in the process of contacting 678 patients who were admitted to its renal wards 64A and 67 from January to June this year. It is believed that the outbreak occurred in these 2 wards.

My greatest healthcare nightmare occurred when I read the tragic news of how eights patients died at the infamous renal ward 67 in SGH due to a hepatitis C-related incident. I am sure the hep C-related incident is just one of the many consequences of such poor infrastructure planning. Too many foreigners working on our work permit passes have brought along their wives, children, parents and parents-in-law. Sometimes, their brothers and sisters are also part of the large entourage on long-term stay.