Jack Bloom, MPL and DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health revealed the names of Gauteng’s most dangerous hospitals on Monday, 23 January.
This is according to information he obtained from the Gauteng Health Department after submitting a request in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA).
Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital has the highest number of Serious Adverse Events (SAEs) affecting patients in Gauteng, with 62 SAEs reported in 2015. There was a total of 503 serious adverse events (SAEs) in Gauteng state hospitals in 2015.
Bloom said, “An SAE is defined as an event that results in an unintended harm to the patient by an act of commission or omission rather than by the underlying disease or condition of the patient. This can involve negligence, staff incompetence and system failure”.
Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital compares poorly with the other academic hospitals which had the following much lower SAEs in 2015:
• Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital – 10 SAEs
• George Mukhari Hospital – 9 SAEs
• Steve Biko Hospital – 3 SAEs
He continued, saying, “Jubilee Hospital is the most dangerous hospital in Gauteng as it recorded 51 SAEs despite being much smaller than Baragwanath Hospital.”
Other dangerous hospitals include the following:
• Pholosong – 46 SAEs
• Leratong – 30 SAEs
• Kopanong and Odi – 28 SAEs
• Pretoria West – 23 SAEs
• Sebokeng – 22 SAEs
• Far East Rand – 21 SAEs
The safest hospitals with the lowest SAEs are as follows:
• Heidelberg – 1 SAE
• Edenvale – 2 SAEs
• Tambo Memorial – 3 SAEs
• Rahima Moosa – 4 SAEs
The most improved hospital is Tembisa, which had 17 SAEs in 2015, down from 71 SAEs recorded from January 2012 to September 2013.
Bloom says, “More steps are needed to cut down medical mistakes and ensure that patients are healed rather than injured in our state hospitals.”
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