GAUTENG HEALTH FACES TIDAL WAVE OF MALPRACTICE CLAIMS

The Gauteng Health Department faces a tidal wave of malpractice claims after a court awarded close to R18 million to parents who successfully sued after their son was permanently brain damaged at the Pholosong Hospital on the East Rand.

According to court papers, the hospital failed to perform a caesarean section when Prince Sibusiso Khanyi was born there in December 1999, and the lack of oxygen led to brain damage.

This high amount awarded is an important precedent that will lead to many more malpractice claims.

Medical-legal claims by aggrieved patients already amount to R573 million according to the Gauteng Health Department's 2009/10 Annual Report.

I expect many more claims, including that by mothers of the six babies who died last year at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital.

The Department needs to dramatically improve health standards to avoid future claims arising from hospital negligence.

Statement issued by Jack Bloom MPL, DA Gauteng Health Spokesman, March 7 2011

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