March 24, 2022, 01:17 AM
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The National University Hospital (NUH) has issued a more detailed statement to address the incident involving a nine-month pregnant woman who was allegedly left unattended at the Emergency Department (ED) for two hours.
After the wait at the ED, the woman was later informed that her baby had no heartbeat by doctors in the ward afterwards.
Woman's bleeding had subsided and pain was assessed to be 2 out of 10: NUH
According to the statement sent at 11:59pm on Mar. 23, NUH's Chief Executive Officer, Aymeric Lim, clarified what had happened on Mar. 15, when the woman, surnamed Lee, was sent to the hospital.
Lee, who was 36 weeks pregnant, was admitted to ED at around 10:35pm for bleeding.
Lee was sent to the hospital after bleeding profusely from the birth canal while bathing, her husband revealed in a Facebook post on Mar. 21.
According to the latest NUH statement, Lee was attended to immediately upon arrival at the ED.She was noted to be stable, and her bleeding had subsided on the way to the hospital, Lim said.
During the ED triage, her vital signs were also assessed to be "within normal parameters".
Lee indicated she was experiencing mild pain, and the nurses at ED assessed her pain score to be a two out of 10.
The ED was experiencing a high patient load, and high priority is accorded to patients that require medical attention, Lim said in the statement.
Lee was thus placed next to a nursing station for closer visual monitoring.
NUH apologised for the two-hour wait
Patients in labour are admitted to the labour ward upon admission to ED.
However, the labour ward was full at the time, Lim stated, and it was arranged for Lee to be transferred to the ward as soon as possible.
Lee ended up waiting for two hours, something which Lim acknowledged should not have been the case.
"She waited for two hours and this should not have been the case in this circumstance, and we are sorry. During this time, we should have done more to provide closer monitoring and care, as well as to update the patient of her condition and the transfer."
Lee shared that she was finally wheeled to the labour ward at around 12:40am, where she was immediately attended to.
Lim stated that she was cared for by a team led by two senior consultants.
An ultrasound scan showed the absence of a fetal heartbeat, which is caused by placental abruption, a "rare and unpredictable pregnancy complication", the statement revealed.
Why was the labour ward full?
Lim explained in the statement that all Covid-19-positive pregnant women over 36 weeks are admitted to the three public hospitals for care and delivery.
He acknowledged that the hospital staff still have a duty of care towards the patients despite the increased workload. However, he added that it has been a challenging period for the hospital.
"Despite this added workload, we have a duty of care towards our patients. It has been challenging to maintain the hospital’s high standards for care amidst the Covid-19 outbreak given the high numbers of patients admitting into the hospital for both emergent Covid-19 and non-Covid clinical conditions."
When Lee arrived at the ED, Lim shared that the hospital was managing three other expectant patients with Covid-19 in the ED and labour ward.
The hospital staff in these wards were thus "kept very busy having to manage all these urgent cases".
In an earlier interview with 8world News, Lee revealed that she was infected with Covid-19, but had tested "clear negative" on Mar. 15, the day she was sent to the ED.
NUH will review the process of managing expectant patients at the ED
At the end of the statement, Lim said that NUH will review the process of managing expectant patients who are admitted into ED when the labour ward is full to ensure such incidents do not happen again.
Lim added that they are deeply saddened by the family’s loss and will continue to provide care and support to them.
NUH staff, including the clinical and nursing leads, met the family on Mar. 23.
"[We] appreciate the opportunity to address their concerns directly. We will do our best to support them and ensure the patient’s well-being."
You can read the full statement by NUH CEO Aymeric Lim here:
The expectant patient was admitted to the NUH Emergency Department (ED) on 15 March at around 2235 hours for bleeding. Upon arrival at ED, she was attended to immediately. She was noted to be stable, and her bleeding had subsided en route to the hospital. During the ED triage, her vital signs were within normal parameters. She indicated she was experiencing mild pain, and was assessed as 2/10 on the pain score by our nurses. ED was experiencing a high patient load at that time. We accord high priority to patients who need medical attention and she was placed next to the nursing station for closer visual monitoring.Patients in labour are admitted to the labour ward upon admission to ED. As she was in early labour, arrangement was made to transfer her to the labour ward as soon as possible, which was full at that time. She waited for two hours and this should not have been the case in this circumstance, and we are sorry. During this time, we should have done more to provide closer monitoring and care, as well as to update the patient of her condition and the transfer.
At the labour ward, the patient was immediately attended to, and cared for by a team led by two senior consultants. An ultrasound scan showed the absence of a fetal heartbeat, caused by placental abruption, a rare and unpredictable pregnancy complication.
Currently, all COVID-19 positive pregnant women over 36 weeks are admitted to the three public hospitals for care and delivery. Despite this added workload, we have a duty of care towards our patients. It has been challenging to maintain the hospital’s high standards for care amidst the COVID-19 outbreak given the high numbers of patients admitting into the hospital for both emergent COVID-19 and non-COVID clinical conditions.
On the night of the incident, NUH was managing three other expectant patients with COVID-19 in the ED and labour ward. The hospital staff in both the ED and labour wards were kept very busy having to manage all these urgent cases. We will review the process of managing expectant patients who are admitted into ED when the labour ward is full so that such incidents do not happen again.
We are deeply saddened by the family’s loss and will continue to provide care and support to them during this difficult period. We met the family on 23 March, together with our clinical and nursing leads, and appreciate the opportunity to address their concerns directly. We will do our best to support them and ensure the patient’s well-being.
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