The Gauteng Health Department is facing a damages claim of more than R30m – instituted on behalf of a mother and her now 11-year-old daughter – after the child was born with severe brain damage, allegedly due to the negligence of the medical staff at the Natalspruit Hospital in Katlehong in September 2012.

A Pretoria News report says the mother turned to the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) as she blamed the medical staff at the hospital for the fact that her child now suffered from cerebral palsy.

Her claim includes R18.7m for future medical and related expenses and R3.6m for the pain and suffering she and the child had to endure.

The mother claimed the nursing and medical staff at the hospital were negligent in that they failed to attend to the vaginal bleeding during labour for about nine hours. It was said that she needed an emergency Caesarian section, which was never performed.

As a result, the child suffered brain damage and resultant cerebral palsy, is epileptic and developmentally delayed, and has a marked speech delay and speech deficits.

The Health Department initially denied the medical and nursing staff of the hospital were negligent.

However, during trial, the departments’ experts – an obstetrician and a gynaecologist – conceded and agreed with the mother’s experts that the care received from the hospital during the birth of the child was sub-standard.

The mother’s evidence and that of the witnesses were largely uncontested, with the department’s witnesses conceding the evidence.

Acting Judge MD Botsi-Thulare said from the facts it was clear that if the birth was properly managed, the stressful situation facing the foetus could and should have been recognised and acted upon.

Negligence on the part of the medical staff has therefore been proved.

‘If there was proper monitoring and assistance, foetal distress would have been detected and appropriate assistance would have been given with the delivery by a timeous Caesarean section,’ the judge said.

The Pretoria News report notes while later admitting negligence, the department objected to the mother’s claim on the basis that she had instituted it out of time.

The mother explained that she first had to obtain the medical records and consult experts to establish whether she could hold the department accountable. 

In rejecting the department’s objection in this regard, the judge said it would be unrealistic to expect the mother to have knowledge of what caused her child’s condition without having first had an opportunity of consulting a relevant medical professional or specialist for advice. 

‘It is trite that in certain cases involving medical negligence matters, a claimant is entitled to first obtain independent medical advice … In the absence of such independent medical advice, a claimant cannot be deemed to have had knowledge of the facts from which a debt arises.’

The judge concluded that the Department of Health is 100% liable for the damages the mother can prove that she and her child had suffered due to medical negligence.

Full Pretoria News report in The Star

Judgment