The Northern Cape Department of Health is facing medical claims worth R2.1 billion in litigation for medical negligence.
Lizzie George in Kimberley in the Northern Cape, the grandmother of a 10-year-old girl who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth, claims that it was due to negligence as her daughter was left all alone to give birth with no assistance from nurses.
“For me, if I can say something I will say it’s negligence from the health department side. I mean it’s her first child. She doesn’t know anything about getting into labour and she was left alone to give birth and as I said the baby’s mother was also on substance. So, I think it just faded away due to the substance, but if there were more support I think things would have been better for this child. Because this child has to now be like this for the rest of her life and it’s very sad to have a child like this, not having the knowledge you must have,” she says.
The Northern Cape Department of Health says majority of the cases date back a couple of years ago and will have a plan of action to address these litigations in the province.
“It’s important to note is that the majority of these cases are historic as they date back couple of years ago from the summons received by the department. This process is solely dependent on the plaintiff to drive and in the interest of the public, MEC Lekwee, who is the MEC responsible for health in the province, will convene a press briefing to unpack this Medico-Legal cases and plan of action that seeks to address these litigations in the province,” says the department’s spokesperson, Lebogang Majaha.
