This is Professor Leo Yee Sin, chairman of the Independent Review Committee tasked to probe into the Hepatitis C outbreak at SGH.
Prof Leo is not just an infectious disease expert. She was the one in the frontline leading the battle against Sars in 2003. And that was not the only battle she led.
Because of her experience in outbreak management, she is frequently called upon as advisor at national, regional and international level.
Leon Pereira of Workers' Party had cast aspersion on Prof Leo's ability
to lead the review in an independent and professional manner when he
called for a retired clinician or healthcare administrator to co-chair
the committee with Prof Leo. He also cast doubts on the commitment of
healthcare workers and the review committee to find the whole truth.
Doctors and nurses, more than the general public and Workers' Party, want to uncover the root cause of the Hep C cluster because they are the frontline workers and in an outbreak they may even be the first to die - as we have seen in Sars.
EVERY DAY they are exposed to many risks including risk of infection in the course of their work. Their working environment is the hospital.
More than anyone else, the independent review committee want to know how the infection happened so that the processes in hospitals can be strengthened so that they can ensure a safe working environment for themselves, their colleagues and for the patients under their care. They have every motivation to strengthen processes in the hospitals.
So don't cast aspersions on the independence and professionalism of members of the independent committee, and asked for retired clinician and a judge.
The Police are also investigating and there is good reason why they are called in. Does WP not trust the police to carry out their investigations and interview people?
Don't jump the gun and call for a COI for the sake of scoring some political points.
Let the review committee finish their investigations and the findings be made known first.
Doctors and nurses, more than the general public and Workers' Party, want to uncover the root cause of the Hep C cluster because they are the frontline workers and in an outbreak they may even be the first to die - as we have seen in Sars.
EVERY DAY they are exposed to many risks including risk of infection in the course of their work. Their working environment is the hospital.
More than anyone else, the independent review committee want to know how the infection happened so that the processes in hospitals can be strengthened so that they can ensure a safe working environment for themselves, their colleagues and for the patients under their care. They have every motivation to strengthen processes in the hospitals.
So don't cast aspersions on the independence and professionalism of members of the independent committee, and asked for retired clinician and a judge.
The Police are also investigating and there is good reason why they are called in. Does WP not trust the police to carry out their investigations and interview people?
Don't jump the gun and call for a COI for the sake of scoring some political points.
Let the review committee finish their investigations and the findings be made known first.
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