In parliament on 4 April 2016, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said that naming the staff responsible for the hepatitis C outbreak at the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) last year will be detrimental to the healthcare system and healthcare workers.
He added that if the individuals were named, it would lead to a "blame culture".
Mr Gan was responding to questions from Non-Constituency MP Leon Perera and Ms Cheng Li Hui (Tampines GRC) about the case.
Mr Perera asked for the names of the SGH and ministry staff who were disciplined over the case, the penalties or warnings they each got, and why. Ms Cheng asked what measures had been put in place to ensure the incident does not happen again.
The outbreak in SGH’s renal ward was made public on Oct 6 last year, almost six months after the first case was diagnosed on April 17. Eight of the 25 affected patients have since died.
In an update last month, the Ministry of Health said its four staff — who were at director-level or equivalent — were warned, sternly warned and fined.
SGH said its 12 staff – including senior management – were sternly warned and fined.
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