Children who die between the pillar and the post (6)

25 August, 2022

I am grateful to Augustine Veliath (India) [1] for describing the initial case study (a 5-month child who died following a communication failure between intensive care units), a situation corroborated by Cat Morris (India) [2]. Eilon Shany (Israel) [3] suggested a WhatsApp group might have helped coordination, and Gyikua Plange-Rhule (Ghana) [4] reported that WhatsApp has indeed been implemented successfully in West Africa for this purpose.

What can be done to help prevent similar tragedies in the future?

One approach could be to examine the original case study in more depth. What were the critical failings that contributed to death? From Augustine's account it seems that the single most important failing was that the university hospital (the second hospital to which the child was taken) not only refused to admit the child, but refused even to phone ahead to a 3rd hospital, and insisted the child should be taken to the third hospital without knowing if facilities were available there. This appears to me to be not so much a case of communication failure, but one of gross negligence.

Would it have helped if there was a coordinated WhatsApp group for child health professionals/ICUs across the city? Maybe, but this isn't clear in the above case.

I would however be very interested to hear more from Gyikua Plange-Rhule and others about how WhatsApp is being used to help coordinate health care, whether for newborns, infants, or older children.

Are these WhatsApp groups informal (ie set up by child health professionals without formal approval), and what advantages do they have over other methods of coordination and communication? What advice would Gyikua have for others considering this approach?

[1] https://www.hifa.org/dgroups-rss/children-who-die-between-pillar-and-post-5

[2] https://www.hifa.org/dgroups-rss/children-who-die-between-pillar-and-post-3

[3] https://www.hifa.org/dgroups-rss/children-who-die-between-pillar-and-post-2

[4] https://www.hifa.org/dgroups-rss/children-who-die-between-pillar-and-post

Best wishes, Neil

Let's build a future where children are no longer dying for lack of healthcare information - Join CHIFA (Child Healthcare Information For All): http://www.hifa.org/forums/chifa-child-health-and-rights

CHIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is the coordinator of the HIFA campaign (Healthcare Information For All) and assistant moderator of the CHIFA forum. Twitter: @hifa_org FB: facebook.com/HIFAdotORG neil@hifa.org