Which are Gauteng’s most dangerous hospitals?

18 May 2016

Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu has disclosed that there were 503 serious adverse events (SAEs) in Gauteng state hospitals in 2015, but has declined to name the hospitals where these negligent acts occurred.

A 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.

In a written reply to my questions in the Gauteng Legislature she says that serious adverse events involved amongst others allegations of negligence, incompetence of staff members, abscondment of patients and system failure.

But when I asked in which hospital each event occurred she replied: "Four central, three tertiary, eight regional, twelve district and three specialized hospitals".

This is a cover-up to avoid disclosing which are the most dangerous hospitals for patients in Gauteng.

When I asked this question previously it was disclosed that Tembisa Hospital had the worst SAE record, with 71 SAEs recorded from January 2012 to September 2013. Other dangerous hospitals were Chris Hani Baragwanath and Jubilee, which both recorded 64 SAEs for this period.

According to previous replies I have received from the Gauteng Health Department, the recorded SAEs have jumped over the years as follows:

2011 - 239 SAEs

2012 - 373 SAEs

January to September 2013 - 532 SAEs

I will put in an application under the Promotion of Access to Information Act to get the SAE information for individual hospitals.

Negligent acts in state hospitals should not be secret information as the public have the right to know which hospitals are most negligent in treating patients.

Issued by Jack Bloom, DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health, 18 May 2016