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Pregnant woman made to wait for 2 hours at NUH's A&E department, bled profusely and her baby died in the end
Pregnant woman made to wait for 2 hours at NUH's A&E department, bled profusely and her baby died in the end
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Mee Pok Tah flip prata liao!
Can woman who lost unborn baby after 2-hour wait at NUH take legal action? Lawyers weigh in
SINGAPORE — The media statement by National University Hospital (NUH) apologising to a patient who lost her unborn baby and conceding that it should have done more does not mean that the hospital is taking liability for the case.
And if the patient were to pursue legal action against the hospital, the courts would need to look deeper into the facts of the case and what had caused the woman to lose her child, lawyers told TODAY.
Ms Jessica Cheung, senior associate of Edmond Pereira Law Corporation, said that the hospital's statement was not an admission of liability.
"As lawyers, we scrutinise every word. The apology brought up that the hospital should have done more, but only addressed issues like the two-hour wait," she said.
Mr Mark Teng, executive director of law firm That.Legal LLC, noted that legal action "should be the last resort as it can be costly for all parties involved".
"It is best to first consider alternative dispute resolution mechanisms like negotiation or mediation," he added.
The woman's husband had taken to social media to share their account of the incident: On March 15, the woman, who was 36 weeks' pregnant and bleeding at her birth canal, was waiting in the hospital's emergency ward for about two hours before she was moved to a maternity ward, where scans later showed that the unborn baby had no heartbeat.
NUH said in its statement and apology that this “should not have been the case” and it should have done more to provide her with closer monitoring and care. The hospital also said that it has met the family and will "do our best to support them and ensure the patient’s well-being".
Health Minister Ong Ye Kung has said that the Ministry of Health will work with NUH on a "thorough investigation” of the case.
The couple has not said whether they plan to take legal action. TODAY has reached out to them.
In a media statement last Wednesday, Professor Aymeric Lim, chief executive officer of NUH, said that the emergency department was seeing a high patient load at the time the woman was there, and the hospital was managing three other expectant patients with Covid-19 in the emergency department and labour ward.
He also said that NUH would review the process of managing expectant patients who are admitted into the emergency department when the labour ward is full, so that such incidents do not happen again.
MORE FACTS NEEDED TO DETERMINE NEGLIGENCE
When asked if the couple could sue the hospital, Ms Cheung said that more details would be needed to understand the case.
Noting that there were differences in details between the husband's Facebook posts and NUH's statement — such as whether the expectant mother was bleeding while at the emergency unit — facts would need to be established to determine if there is a case for legal recourse.
Mr Teng said: "Ultimately, a successful claimant would have to prove, among other things, that an objectively ascertained standard of care owed by the hospital to the patient was breached and that the same breach was the cause of the harm."
This means that they would need to determine if the hospital had provided an expected standard of care, and if it did not, then whether that caused the patient to lose the unborn child.
Ms Lydia Lee, senior associate of IRB Law LLP, said that if the couple does sue, the court would need to examine if the hospital's conduct was "reasonable in the circumstances".
"The standard of care against which the hospital would be assessed is specific to the facts of each case," she said, adding that the standard of care may differ from case to case as it takes into account the circumstance of the case.
This would include comparing against what hospitals may have done, closely examining NUH's manpower allocation and understanding if other hospitals would support the said action taken, Ms Lee added.
Experts from other hospital's emergency wards may also be called in as witnesses in such cases.
More at https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/can-woman-lost-unborn-baby-2-hour-wait-nuh-take-legal-action-lawyers-1858266
急诊室久等终保不住胎儿 丧儿孕妇：护士说每个人都在忙
本地一名怀孕九个月的孕妇说，因产道流血不止急赴国大医院求医，然而却在急诊室久候无人理，最终保不住腹中胎儿。孕妇申诉说，当时整整两小时都无人来看她，现场“似乎都没人在抢救”，还听到护士说“每个人都在忙”。
这起不幸事件发生在上周二（15日），怀孕第36周的紫凌（化名，37岁）睡前要洗澡时突感不适，肚子开始疼起来，开始以为是一般肚子痛，后来洗澡时赫然发现产道流血，而且越流越多，才知道事情不妙。
她于是致电丈夫家明（化名，37岁）求助，丈夫赶紧致电叫来救护车，然而因为自己染冠病未结束隔离期，只能向朋友求助，陪太太到医院。
不过，由于家属朋友不能一起进入急诊室，紫凌只好单独到急诊室等医生，丈夫友人则在外面等候。
紫凌说，她在急诊室躺了许久都没有人来理她，而她也因为失血过多，没力气求救，不过有听到隔壁床阿姨问一位男护士：“为什么这么久都没有人前来查看我们的情况？”该名护士则以敷衍口气答道：“每个人都在忙，也没有房（间），你也得等，每个人都在等。”
紫凌也补充，当时现场只看到两位护士，以及一些护士在柜台后面，具体人数不清楚，不过却感到现场“没有人在进行抢救工作”。
急诊室等约两小时才被推进产房
大约凌晨12点40多分左右，紫凌才被推进产房进行检查。医生向紫凌说，孩子已没了心跳，初步调查是因为孩子从胎盘脱离。
紫凌赶紧问道：“能不能进行复苏，抢救孩子？”但得到的是医生直接回应：“不能。”
痛失胎儿的她也因为失血过多，在医院输血了三天，到星期天（20日）才获准出院。
不明白为何需等这么久
夫妻俩至今也不了解，为何国大急诊室当时会让他们等这么久，他们也试图要求院方提供解释，但都不成功。紫凌住院期间，丈夫家明也不断试图找医生要答案，不过就一直被敷衍，说医生没空。
两人最终决定把事件放上社交媒体，希望引起注意，而正如他们所料，事件引起媒体关注和报道后，医院也联系上他们。
夫妻俩说，即使是普通人，失血过多也是可能造成生命危险，更何况是孕妇。他们希望能通过自己这次的申诉，让院方做出改变，防止类似事件再次发生。
“我们不希望同样的事情发生在别人的身上。”
国大医院下午在回应《8视界新闻网》时证实了这起事件，并表示正在调查中。
原本接产医院为康盛
另外，夫妻俩也说，原本的接产医院是康盛医院，然而因为紫凌本月6日不幸感染冠病，所以原定11日的产检需改期，13日她结束隔离，但因检测结果仍呈阳性，按照康盛严格的防疫措施，仍不能进院产检。
她最终被安排到16日做产检，然而怎么也没有料到竟会在前一天（15日）出事，无缘看到腹中宝宝出世。
https://www.8world.com/singapore/pregnant-36-weeks-bleeding-waited-2-hours-at-nuh-ae-1760166
Couple dissatisfied with explanation by NUH, claims there is discrepancy between NUH's FB post and contents of their actual meeting
不满国大医院解释 丧胎夫妻：贴文和会谈内容有出入
国大医院今天（24日）凌晨发Facebook帖文，向在急诊部苦等两小时后丧胎的夫妇道歉。对于国大医院的回应，丧胎夫妇表示不满意，并认为贴文内容和会谈内容有所出入。
丈夫表示，事发当天，医疗人员告诉急诊部的护士，他太太已经停止流血了。不过在贴文中院方却称，他太太流血的情况已经消退。
他认为，“停止”和“消退”两者意思不同。不过最重要的是，护士当时并没有检查并确认他太太的流血情况。
而在贴文中，院方也表示，孕妇当时的疼痛指数为2/10。夫妇俩感到疑惑：“护士当时是怎么判断并得到这个疼痛指数的评分？”
丧胎孕妇也表示，她在急诊部时，护士并没有问她这个问题。
丈夫：没说过接受国大道歉
至于昨天（23日）所进行的会谈，丧胎丈夫也表示，并没有得出重大结论。
他也说：“院方并没有给予我们一个满意的答案。他们始终无法解释当时我太太为何得在急诊室等上两小时。院方也表示，他们还需要多一些时间进行调查。”
据了解，国大医院会再进一步与丧胎夫妇会面，交代调查结果。
丧胎夫妇也否认一些媒体所报道，指他们接受了国大的道歉。丈夫说，在急诊部等了两个小时后，院方的确应该为此事道歉，不过不代表他们接受了院方的道歉。
https://www.8world.com/singapore/woman-who-lost-child-nuh-1763361
NUH spins grandmother story to explain away its culpability!
Who did Mee Pok Tah vote for?
NUH asks Sinkies not to speculate about the incident OUT OF RESPECT for the family woah
愿他们夫妻两能节哀 :(
Both MOH and NUH must come clean!!!!!
NUH is now vying with CGH for the worst SG horsepeter honours siboh?
Ah so this is what a "world class" medical system looks like. ;)
The guy is a mee pok hawker huh? What was he planning to name his unborn child? Mee kia?
I can already anticipate NUH's subsequent course of action regarding this incident:
RIP baby Titus.