Bara maternity unit has R1bn medical negligence cases

Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital’s maternity unit has been slapped with medical negligence claims amounting to almost  R1bn in the past four years, while running short of equipment.

This was revealed in a written reply in the Gauteng legislature by the provincial health department to questions from DA Gauteng shadow health MEC Jack Bloom.

In its response, the health department said there are 50 medical negligence claims totalling R992m that have been filed against the maternity unit in the past four years.

Half of these cases are for cerebral palsy in babies, with individual claims ranging from R10m to R51m.

The department further said there are claims for the deaths of five babies, requesting amounts ranging from R400,000 to R7m.

The highest claim is R65m for alleged negligence in treating a pregnant woman which resulted in womb infection, leading to an emergency hysterectomy and heart and kidney complications requiring dialysis.

Other claims include alleged negligence leading to removal of the womb, and cases of swabs left inside the patients after surgery.

Meanwhile, the department said Bara hospital is understaffed and lacks adequate working equipment.

It said the hospital has 26 staff vacancies, four out 12 sonar machines are broken, and two overhead warmers in the labour ward are not working.

According to Bloom, last month the cooling unit for two operating theatres was broken for six days and patients were operated on in high temperatures, which increases the risk of infection.

“There is also an increased risk of hypothermia [abnormally low temperature] in newborn babies because of the nonfunctional overhead warmers. The department says there is a low number of deaths and infections in the maternity unit, but the high negligence claims show there are many cases of poor medical care leading to injury and death,” said Bloom.

“The tragedy is that money spent on negligence cases could have been avoided if this busy maternity unit was properly staffed with adequate equipment. And no amount of money can compensate for loss of life and life-long injuries caused by negligence,” he said.

Bloom said the Bara maternity unit needs “urgent improvement as it is the busiest in the country, delivering 20,000 babies a year.”

“The DA advocates a laser-like focus on improving management and resources in all hospital maternity units where so much costly negligence occurs,” said Bloom.

kokam@sowetan.co.za