PHILIPSBURG - Inspector General Dr. Earl Best has given anaesthesiologist Dr. Andriy Danyltsiv the green light to work at St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC).

 

Best said in a statement issued late last night that SMMC risked “a steep penalty” for failing to comply with the Inspectorate’s order to suspend the medical professional’s services temporarily when instructed to do so.

 

Best said the Inspectorate had received information on May 22 from which it had concluded that “insufficient due diligence” had been conducted in the case of the specialist who started working at SMMC as of May 23.

 

In close consultation with Health and Labour Minister Emil Lee and SMMC and to ensure the quality and safety of care provided on the island, the Inspectorate ordered SMMC on May 31 to suspend the patient care provided by the specialist until an investigation by the Inspectorate into his qualifications was completed. The Inspectorate had indicated that it would finalise its investigation within a week’s time, Best said.

 

“By not complying with the order the SMMC risks a steep penalty being imposed by the Inspectorate,” he said.

 

The Inspectorate concluded its investigation on Tuesday and Best noted that the anaesthesiologist was “a qualified medical doctor” who had successfully completed a two-year postgraduate training in anaesthesiology in the Ukraine. “This postgraduate training of two years is not equivalent to the five-year curriculum in anaesthesiology in the Netherlands as well as in the USA,” he added.

 

In the Ukraine after the initial two-year progression in the field of anaesthesiology is obtained through supervised clinical working experience, there is mandatory training and accredited continuous medical training CME, including an exam, in cycles of five years. On successful completion of two cycles of five years the specialist becomes registered as a “senior registrar,” Best explained.

 

“In the underlying case this was completed in February 2013. Based on the outcome of the investigation, his years of (supervised) experience and mandatory courses and CME, the anaesthesiologist is allowed to provide patient care in the field of general anaesthesiology without exercising the subspecialties until more information has been submitted to the Inspectorate,” Best said.

 

The Daily Herald