Johannesburg - With not a single lawsuit decided in their favour, the Gauteng Health Department is haemorrhaging money – and it seems this isn’t about to stop.
Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu revealed this week in the Gauteng Legislature that her department had forked out R544 million to date for medical negligence claims.
These claims date back to 2010. According to information from the MEC, 168 cases had been lost in court while eight had been settled out of court.
The individual cases make for harrowing reading. DA shadow MEC for Health in Gauteng Jack Bloom, who posed the questions to Mahlangu, carries a dossier on these claims.
Many of them point to negligence of a shocking nature.
One example is patient Shabbier Nagel, who had a leg amputated when he went in for heart surgery.
Others are eight-year-old Ntokozo Skhosana and Nicholas van Niekerk, who suffered brain damage as a result of negligence.
The sums paid out are as huge as the blunders.
Five-year-old Thembisa Kometsi was awarded R4,6m after her legs were amputated when she was admitted at the Far East Rand Hospital with burns on her hands.
According to evidence in court, Thembisa had developed gangrene due to conditions that were not addressed in accordance with “generally accepted norms and standards of good medical and nursing practice at the hospital”.
Admittedly, the MEC at the time was Hope Papo. But no public hospital seems to have turned the corner under Mahlangu, who is making a second return to this portfolio.
Bloom reportedly raised the matter of the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital not having been able to do a single gall bladder operation since March last year because of a lack of laparoscopy equipment.
A total 51 patients are waiting for gall bladder operations.
“I welcome Mahlangu’s announcement in the legislature that the department will not fight unnecessary court cases and will admit guilt where indicated,” said Bloom.
“This has not been the case in the past, including the recent R13,1m settlement for brain-damaged child Nonjabulo Mavimbela, where the department appealed fruitlessly for two years after losing the case in court.”
He cited Mahlangu saying that there would be more emphasis on negotiation and mediation in negligence cases, with the help of retired judges.
Particular attention needed to be paid to Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic and Tembisa hospitals, as they accounted for the bulk of the medical negligence cases.
“I hope that these measures help to ensure fair and speedy settlement of medical negligence and also fix the root cause – which is poor care in our hospitals.
“Instead of paying out huge amounts for medical negligence, it would be far better for our hospitals to ensure that patients are healed, rather than damaged by avoidable mistakes.”
Gauteng Health spokesman Steve Mabona referred The Sunday Independent to the medico-legal conference convened by Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi in February. The aim of the conference was to find the reasons for the escalating medical claims.
He added that Gauteng Premier David Makhura had subsequently ordered an audit of the claims and their cost to the state and “to what extent the State attorney and officials settled out of court”.
Mabona echoed Bloom’s sentiments: “We have decided that we are not going to continue to fight cases in court unnecessarily.
“We will utilise independent mediators to assist the department to approach families and resolve these before the involvement of attorneys. Where we erred, we should be able to admit it and settle out of court.
“Yes, we are concerned about money spent on medical negligence, hence files are perused and we want to use mediators to assist (to) decrease the rising claims.”
Mabona says a retired judge “is assisting the department by meeting with clinical managers and other health professionals to advise on record keeping and identification of potential claims”.
He hoped “this will alleviate the process of involving attorneys and payment of exorbitant amounts”.
However, the department, which received a negative audit report, saw light at the end of the tunnel: “We have made strides to improve the situation and continue to work tirelessly to rectify the few concerns raised by the auditor-general and we are confident we will receive an unqualified report in 2015-2016.”
Other claims against Gauteng:
* Prince Khanyi, born brain-damaged at Pholosong Hospital – R9.25 million.
* Tanya Khambule, brain-damaged during birth at Edenvale Hospital – R12 million.
* A boy born to Brenda Mdlalose, brain damage after birth at George Mukhari Hospital – R11.1 million.
* Menzi Lushaba, born with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy after two-hour delay at Charlotte Maxeke Hospital – R17 million.
* Kutloano Makgomarela, born with cerebral palsy as a result of negligence at the Tembisa Hospital – R15 million.
The department, within the confines of the law, fights some of the claims, often reducing them.
The Sunday Independent