Baby’s family call for Health Minister’s resignation: ‘We wanted to speak to her’

THE grieving Ghanem family claim they were left in the dark over the cause of their baby boy’s death, and are calling for action.

THE NSW Health Minister is refusing calls for her resignation from a family whose newborn baby died after his tiny lungs were filled with a poisonous gas in a NSW hospital.

The grieving Ghanem family claim they were left in the dark over the cause of the baby boy’s death, which the Health Minister Jillian Skinner described as a “devastating error”.

The mother of Caesarean-born baby John Ghanem woke from anaesthesia at Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital on July 13 to be told her son had died.

It was a week until health authorities informed the family the child was pumped with nitrous oxide rather than oxygen after birth, leading to his death, and that the fatal mix up had left a second child with severe brain damage and fighting for their life.

Ms Skinner did not make contact with the family until Tuesday afternoon.

“She told everyone she didn’t speak to us because we asked for privacy but that is not true. We wanted to speak to her, to find out what has happened and know the truth. She has only given us a call just now, at about 3pm,” a family member told The Daily Telegraph on Tuesday.

“This is why people want her to resign.”

Sonya Ghanem and her husband Youssef’s newborn son died at Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital after being administered nitrous oxide gas instead of oxygen due to a faulty installation.

The family’s call for Ms Skinner’s removal comes as it was revealed a third baby was left with “significant injuries” in another critical mix-up that saw a newborn deprived of oxygen in a birthing suite.

A child born at Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital, where the deadly mix-up between nitrous and oxygen occurred, was injured in January 2014 when an oxygen bottle ran out while the infant was being resuscitated.

The incident prompted the hospital to install oxygen wall units allowing theatres to be constantly supplied with the gas.

It was one of these units that is believed to have been incorrectly installed, under the responsibility of gas supply company BOC and an engineer employed by the hospital, that was administered to the two babies at the centre of the grave situation which is now subject to several investigations.

A liquid oxygen tank at Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital.

Despite the family’s public criticism, Ms Skinner insists she has acted appropriately following the discovery of the “devastating error”, and would not resign.

She told Sydney radio station 2UE on Wednesday morning she would only give up her position if an “ongoing systemic issue” under her watch was found to have led to the death, which she didn’t believe was the case.

“I discovered at 5 o’clock on Thursday evening last, immediately I demanded and the ministry put into action measures to prevent it happening again, then to determine how it happened,” she said.

“The last thing I was going to do was do this myself or go public about it. They have to be very carefully treated when being informed,” Mrs Skinner said about informing the family.

Ms Skinner said she spoke to the Ghanem family yesterday after “a couple of issues” that she said prevented their conversation happening earlier.

She said she had also spoken to the second family whose baby girl, born in June, remains in a critical condition, describing the encounter as “one of the saddest conversations I ever had”.

“They were incredibly courteous and extremely sad. That’s all I can say about that conversation,” she said.

Ms Skinner also dismissed reports that the families may not be eligible for compensation, pledging the parents “will be compensated”.

When it came to the child born in 2014 who suffered injuries after being denied oxygen, she said she was “not aware” if the family was compensated, but “would be extremely surprised if they were not”.

The Ghanem family has criticised Mrs Skinner’s reaction to the news, not only in her delayed contact, but her decision to attend a glitzy awards ceremony at the Sydney Opera House on the evening the fatal mistake was discovered.

Ms Skinner conceded the move could be a bad look, but said there was nothing she could have done at the time.

She defended her handling of the tragedy: “Westminster ministerial responsibility I would claim relies upon the minister acting appropriately when something like this occurs, and I believe that I have.”

Authorities are currently working to piece together how the mix up occurred, and why it wasn’t prevented.

An interim report is expected to be made public by the minister by the end of the week.

The NSW Coroner will also investigate, and a spokeswoman for NSW Health told news.com.au police were assisting the Coroners Office with their investigation.