“The blame is entirely mine” – RamsammyMinister of Health, Dr Leslie Ramsammy disclosed last night that convicted sex offender Dr Vishwamintra Persaud has been sacked, even as he acknowledged that the doctor’s appointment had offended many.“I apologize to all those persons we have offended by the decision of the GPHC to offer employment to Dr. Persaud. While at the time we only considered the benefits of adding another experienced doctor to our roster at the GPHC, we could have been more careful in considering the circumstances.”Minister Ramsammy also accepted responsibility for failing to advise officials at the GPHC that the employment of anyone should take into consideration the provisions of the Sexual Offence Act. Dr Vishwamintra Persaud“The blame is entirely mine,” said the Minister, as he highlighted that since the enactment of the Sexual Offences Act,Wholesale NFL Jerseys China, the Ministry of Health should have advised all of the regulatory bodies that in considering registration and licensing of professionals,China NFL Jerseys, care must be taken that such persons are eligible for registration and licensing not only in accordance with the provisions of the relevant professional body law, but also in accordance with the Sexual Offences Act.“…I should have offered better advice to the Medical Council. We have now taken action to advise all professional bodies under the Ministry of Health that registration and licensing should take into consideration the provisions of the Sexual Offences Act. We erred in not ensuring that the employment of Dr. Persaud was in compliance with the Sexual Offences Act.”“As Minister of Health, it is my responsibility to ensure that in making certain decisions we have taken into consideration all relevant matters. It is clear that in this case we did not take into consideration the various implications of this case and clearly the provisions of the Sexual Offences Act were relevant,” Minister Ramsammy asserted.With lessons learned from this recent experience,NFL Jerseys Store, the Minister assured that efforts will now be focused on providing those who access the services of the hospital with only the best quality care possible, even as he noted that there are yet many committed and dedicated health care workers left in the system.On April 18, 2008,Wholesale Football Jerseys, Dr. Vishwamintra Persaud had pleaded guilty to an attempted course of sexual misconduct against a child of the second degree, in violation of New York penal law Section 110 and 130(1) (b); a class E felony.The incident is said to have occurred in 2003 and ended in 2007.On June 11,Wholesale China Jerseys, 2008, Dr. Persaud was sentenced to an eight-year order of protection, ten years probation,China Jerseys Wholesale, a US$2,500 fine and various fees and surcharges.During a hearing on November 19, 2008 before the New York State Board for Professional Medical Conduct, Dr. Persaud admitted that he had committed a crime, but argued that he should not lose his licence because of the exceptional quality of his medical practice and because therapy had transformed him into a person that would not commit a similar act.The three-member Committee dismissed these arguments. After the hearing, the State of New York Department of Health ordered the Guyanese physician to hand over his licence and registration certificate to the Board of Professional Medical Conduct.In a statement to the previous Medical Council in Guyana, Dr. Persaud claimed that he was framed by his wife and a young female relative.According to the physician, his lawyer advised him to take a plea bargain to “try to save my medical license”.The physician alleged that his case was tried in Long Island, “a white kangaroo court.”Members of both the past and present Council have said that they were unaware of the physician’s conviction in the US.The Council had also said that Dr. Persaud misled its members by submitting an expired certificate of registration and by failing to reveal that his registration had been revoked.He was granted institutional registration, which allowed him to practice at the GPHC.But Director of Medical Services Dr. Madan Rambarran had told Kaietuer News that the past Council and GPHC officials knew “up-front” that Dr. Persaud was a convicted sex felon and that his licence had been revoked.In an interview some weeks ago, Dr. Rambarran had said that he did not believe that Dr. Persaud posed a risk to the population. He had also said that he would have no problem with the physician treating a female relative of his.According to Dr. Rambarran, “the evidence is that the incident for