A Nelson Mandela Bay mother’s worst nightmare was realised when a supposedly healthy pregnancy ended with her child being born with severe brain damage after problems arose during birth.
The distraught woman now intends suing Dora Nginza Hospital and the Eastern Cape health department for more than R4m in damages.
The woman, who is not being named to protect the identity of her child, says she needs the money to adequately care for her son.
But despite medico-legal claims threatening to bring the health department to its knees, authorities at Dora Nginza have allegedly ignored a Gqeberha High Court order to furnish the mother and her attorney with copies of her hospital record.
The department forked out a staggering R3.4bn in medico-legal claims between the 2014/2015 financial year and February 2021, with billions still expected to be paid out in yet-to-be-processed claims.
The woman's attorney, Francois Swanepoel, brought an application against the hospital, in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000, asking a judge to order it to release his client’s medical file.
The expectant mom was admitted to Dora Nginza on January 28 2008, for confinement and delivery.
Her son was born the next day.
The woman alleges the infant sustained a brain injury due to alleged negligence of hospital staff during the delivery, resulting in irreversible and severe brain damage.
The exact details of what allegedly went wrong are not yet contained in court papers.
The woman this week also declined to comment further.
In upholding Swanepoel’s request, the court ordered the hospital to hand over all paediatric records in respect of her son, who is now 13, as well as the mother’s maternity case record and her hospital file.
Swanepoel said the purpose of obtaining such records was to allow the defence to further investigate and obtain medico-legal advice on whether the complications suffered by the baby were attributable to the alleged negligence of the medical practitioners or hospital personnel who had attended to him.
Swanepoel said he was uncertain why the mother had taken this long to seek legal advice, but there was no cut-off date for a parent or legal guardian to approach the court on behalf of a minor.
In court documents, the woman said she intended to institute a damages claim of R4.2m.
She would claim R1m in respect of her son’s future loss of income and the shock, trauma, and loss of enjoyment of the amenities of life.
Future medical expenses, and a need for tutoring and placement at a specialised care facility all form part of the claim.
Health department spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo said if a court order was issued, Dora Nginza would have to comply, adding that all legal claims would have been sent to the state attorney.
Kupelo said the stance of the health department was that it would defend every medico-legal claim.
He added that when it came to such claims, the department was assisted by the office of the premier.
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