In Brief
- The Ruling: High Court Justice Robin Mohammed has ordered the North West Regional Health Authority (NWRHA) to release its internal investigative report into the April 2024 bacterial outbreak that killed seven premature babies at the Port of Spain General Hospital.
- The Criticism: The judge heavily criticised the NWRHA and its former CEO, Anthony Blake, for promising the grieving families transparency but then fighting for two years to keep the report hidden under the guise of ‘legal professional privilege.’ The judge called this defense a ‘construct of convenience.’
- Background: The internal cover-up attempt contrasts with an independent 2024 PAHO report that already exposed severe understaffing and a dismal 29% compliance rate with care standards at the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
- What’s Next: Senior Counsel Anand Ramlogan, representing the bereaved mothers, is calling on the new NWRHA board to abandon any plans for an appeal, release the report immediately, and offer financial settlements to the families to spare them further legal trauma.
By Prior Beharry
A High Court judge has delivered a scathing ruling against the North West Regional Health Authority (NWRHA), ordering the immediate release of a suppressed internal investigative report into the April 2024 bacterial outbreak that claimed the lives of seven premature babies at the Port of Spain General Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
In a 65-page judgment delivered on Thursday, Justice Robin Mohammed ruled in favour of Shanya Raymond-Adams, a bereaved mother who sought the documents under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
The judge quashed the NWRHA’s refusal to disclose the report, declaring it illegal and ordering the authority to hand over the investigative report, witness statements, and terms of reference, and to pay Raymond-Adams’ legal costs.
“A construct of convenience”
The NWRHA had vigorously fought the FOIA request, arguing that the documents were protected by “legal professional privilege” because the authority was facing threatened litigation from the affected families.
However, Justice Mohammed rejected this defence, finding no contemporaneous records to prove the investigation was commissioned primarily for legal advice. He described the NWRHA’s rationale as a “construct of convenience” used to circumvent its statutory duty and a breach of its own Adverse Events Policy.
The judge directed severe criticism at former NWRHA CEO Anthony Blake, who had publicly promised the grieving families “full disclosure and transparency” in April 2024, only to subsequently swear an affidavit opposing the disclosure of the findings. Justice Mohammed noted that Blake was fully aware of impending lawsuits when he made those public assurances, making the NWRHA’s subsequent reliance on legal privilege “highly suspicious.”
“The defendant’s lack of transparency in the face of unequivocal neglect in the performance of official duty… only operates to compound public concerns that the defendant is deliberately seeking to suppress the information in question rather than engage in honest efforts toward the prevention of future tragedies,” Justice Mohammed said.
The court also noted that the NWRHA failed to interview the affected mothers during its internal probe, a direct contravention of its own policies.
The 2024 NICU tragedy
The legal battle stems from a tragic cluster of neonatal deaths between April 2 and April 9, 2024. Raymond-Adams’ daughter, Kae’ Jhene Kerniah Charles, was born prematurely on April 1, 2024, and died five days later after developing a blood infection. Another baby, Nandaranie Nathoo, died weeks prior to the mass outbreak.
While the NWRHA attempted to keep its internal findings hidden, a separate, independent probe commissioned by the Ministry of Health and conducted by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) was laid in Parliament in June 2024. The PAHO report exposed severe deficiencies at the hospital, including severe understaffing, lack of personnel for infection prevention, breaches in protective equipment protocols, and a dismal 29 per cent compliance rate with accepted standards of care.
Justice Mohammed dismissed the NWRHA’s attempts to discredit the PAHO report in court, calling their criticisms “bald averments” and “wholly insufficient.”
Calls for settlement and accountability
Following the judgment, Senior Counsel Anand Ramlogan, who leads the legal team representing Raymond-Adams and several other affected mothers, issued a strong statement condemning the previous NWRHA board.
Ramlogan accused the authority of disgraceful hypocrisy and compared the situation to the Paria pipeline diving tragedy, where millions were spent on legal fees while victims’ families received nothing.
“It is scandalous and outrageous that to date the grieving mothers have not received one red cent whilst the NWRHA dragged this matter out in the courts for the past two years,” Ramlogan said. “What did this investigation discover about the untimely death of these babies that the NWRHA is trying to hide? Who is it protecting?”
Ramlogan is now calling on the newly appointed NWRHA board to abandon any plans for a costly appeal, comply with the disclosure order, and immediately engage the families’ attorneys to negotiate fair and prompt settlements.
“No settlement can restore a child’s life or erase a mother’s grief. It can, however, provide compensation and spare these families the additional suffering of prolonged litigation,” he added. “These mothers have waited long enough.”
The grieving families are represented by a legal team from Freedom Law Chambers, including Anand Ramlogan SC, Jayanti Lutchmedial, Kent Samlal, Jared Jagroo, Natasha Bisram, and Aasha Ramlal. The NWRHA was represented by Ravindra Nanga SC, Stephan Maharaj, and Alana Bissessar.
