VICTORIA – A Victoria anaesthesiologist is calling for a coroner’s inquest into the death of a newborn baby at Victoria General Hospital. Dr. Sue Ferreira says the circumstances of the death deserve a full and independent review. The death in the operating room occurred on August 9th. The Vancouver Island Health Authority says privacy issues prevent it from releasing any details, but confirms a review is underway. Dr. Ferreira calls the incident a nightmare for the family and alleges there was a delay in care. Currently there is no anaesthesiologist in the delivery room at night at Victoria General dedicated to cover high risk pregnancies, especially emergency caesarean sections. Ferreira says the mother had to be moved to the main operating room and a back-up anaesthesiologist called in from home. She says the health authority was warned 18 months ago there were severe or catastrophic risks associated with the plan. VIHA supports 2 anaesthesiologists on duty at night and says it took ten minutes from the caesarean section being called to the start of anaesthetic. The health authority claims the lack of staffing is due to anaesthesiologists not taking the position at the money offered by VIHA and the government. The Coroner says the baby was still born and any review of the case is the responsibility of the health authority. Follow Stephen Andrew on Twitter – www.twitter.com