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Singapore General Hospital apologizes for Hepatitis C outbreak in October

Xinhua, December 8, 2015 Adjust font size:

Singapore General Hospital (SGH) apologized to the patients and their families who have been affected by the Hepatitis C outbreak in October, saying the hospital will learn from this, according to SGH's statement released on Tuesday.

Professor Ang Chong Lye, CEO of SGH, said the hospital accepted the findings of an Independent Review Committee (IRC) released on Tuesday afternoon.

"It has been a hard and humbling lesson but we will learn from this, improve and work tirelessly to ensure that our patients are always safe in our care. We are determined to regain the trust of Singaporeans, whom we have been most privileged to serve," said Professor Ang in the statement.

IRC said the likely causes of the Hepatitis C virus outbreak at SGH were breaches in infection prevention and control practices. The committee said breaches were observed among some SGH staff, but there was no evidence to attribute them to specific foreign staff.

The police have ruled out foul play after the hospital reported a Hepatitis C cluster at its renal ward on Tuesday.

Singapore's Minister for Health Gan Kim Yong announced the Ministry of Health (MOH) will be setting up a taskforce on top of other measures in the aftermath of Hepatitis C virus outbreak at SGH, following the release of IRC's report.

SGH announced the outbreak of Hepatitis C virus in October, which infected 25 people and likely contributed to seven deaths. The hospital subsequently screened hundreds of patients and staff after the discovery of the cluster. Endit