Gauteng health dept ‘addresses’ birth ‘cerebral palsy outcomes’

The Gauteng department of health says it is working to bring down the number of babies born with cerebral palsy in its hospitals.

This follows a Johannesburg High Court case involving a damages claim for a now seven-year-old girl who was the victim of medical negligence at birth and subsequently developed cerebral palsy.

The case saw Judge Raylene Keightley develop common law to allow for “compensation in kind” instead of monetary reparations in matters of this nature. This is a bid to mitigate the impact of these cases, which the judge labelled “all too frequent”, on the public healthcare system’s limited resources.

Department spokesperson Philani Mhlungu said yesterday the department was addressing the “system challenges that contribute to most of the cerebral palsy outcomes”.

“These include improving antenatal care, intrapartum care and postpartum care … (including at) clinics, community health centres, district hospitals, regional and tertiary/central hospitals,” he said. “This entails addressing staff shortages, increasing beds and ensuring functional equipment is available”.

In the case in question, the judge directed the MEC to ensure the child’s medical needs were, in the main, accommodated at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital. She ordered that only services unavailable at the hospital be compensated for in cash.

Asked whether or not it was reasonable to expect the child’s family to entrust the same government department responsible for her disabilities with her future care, Mhlungu said yesterday: “The department is willing to transfer the patient to another public hospital if such concerns are raised.

“Counselling will also be provided to assist the patient find closure and help them heal from the adverse event.”

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