Not even a single case of medical negligence was recorded in the 1 565 neonatal deaths at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital’s maternity ward in the past three years, according to the department of health in Gauteng.
However, more than half of the deaths, 909 to be exact, are said to have been “avoidable incidents”.
This was a written reply by Gauteng health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko to the DA’s question in the legislature regarding the number of babies born between 2020 and 2022, fatalities and causes of their deaths.
Some of the avoidable factors that led to the deaths of the 909 babies include inadequate infection control, limited neonatal intensive care unit beds, and hypothermia.
Nkomo-Ralehoko said there were no cases of negligence from the paediatric neonatology department between 2020 and 2022.
After being asked about equipment shortages in neonatal and maternity departments at the hospital, Nkomo-Ralehoko said there were four cooling machines of which three were ordered in the 2022/23 financial year as a top-up and are yet to be delivered.
“There is a demand for planning and procuring equipment every financial year. There is also augmenting staff shortage with both in-house overtime and a nursing agency. We are also dealing effectively with absenteeism in the workplace,” she said.
DA’s health spokesperson Jack Bloom said the department seemed to be in denial about the conditions at the hospital’s maternity unit, which had more than 50 medical negligence claims totalling R1-billion over the past three years.
He expressed his concerns about the 1 443 babies born with intrapartum hypoxia, which is a lack of oxygen during delivery.
“There are 997 babies born with various stages of encephalopathy [brain injury], 579 had mild encephalopathy, 300 had moderate, and 118 had severe encephalopathy,” said Bloom.
“According to the MEC, babies born with severe encephalopathy will have signs of brain damage in the long term.”
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