MINISTER of Health, Dr. Bheri Ramsaran yesterday cleared the air on inaccurate reports surrounding the death of a 47-year old patient, Titrawattie Shoandeo, at the New Amsterdam Hospital on January 20. The minister was at the time responding to APNU member, Annette Ferguson, whose questions in the National Assembly were premised on media reports that Shoandeo died during a generator failure while undergoing surgery. Minister Ramsaran clarified that the records showed that the blackout at the institution lasted for about 17-20 minutes, and the patient died several hours after the surgery. He admitted that while there is no excuse for there being a blackout, the issue was being misconstrued. An investigation has been launched into the matter and from the initial report, there may have been a difficulty with the automatic switch,which changes over the generator power during a blackout. However, more substantial reports are still outstanding.
The minister said that an attendant will be in place in case the need arises for the switch to be operated manually.  Additionally, other personnel, even if they are of a higher or administrative level, are being trained to provide back-up services if needed.
Shortly after the incident had occurred, the Health Ministry dispatched a team to Region 6 to examine the generator to identify any other fault.