Gauteng's most dangerous hospitals

23 January 2017

The Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital has the highest number of Serious Adverse Events (SAEs) affecting patients in Gauteng, with 62 SAEs reported in 2015.

This is according to information I have obtained from the Gauteng Health Department after submitting a request using the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA).

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. 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

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.

There was a total of 503 serious adverse events (SAEs) in Gauteng state hospitals in 2015.

More steps are needed to cut down medical mistakes and ensure that patients are healed  rather than injured in our state hospitals.

Issued by Jack Bloom, DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health, 23 January 2017