'No negligence cases' at Baragwanath Hospital in past 3 years: department

The Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital recorded no cases of medical negligence in the neonatal and maternity wards in the past three years, says the Gauteng health department.

They delivered 54,244 babies during that period, said health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko in response to a question in the provincial legislature this week.

Nkomo-Ralehoko said the hospital recorded 1,565 (2.9%) neonatal deaths in the three years.

“However, none of the deaths were due to negligence, but other factors such as prematurity (661), infections (547), intrapartum hypoxia (256) and congenital anomalies (118).”

Out of these recorded deaths, 909 were identified to have possible avoidable factors which include inadequate infection control, limited neonatal intensive care unit beds, delays in case management and hypothermia.

A week ago the hospital hastily corrected a situation where a newborn baby was mistakenly discharged with the wrong mother. The newborn was reunited with his biological mother after an intervention sparked by a security officer.

The department explained to TimesLIVE the steps and checks taken before releasing a mother and child from hospital: 

1. A nurse identifies the mother and baby using identity bands on mother and child. Once positively identified, the baby is dressed in home clothes and prepared for discharge.
2. The mother signs relevant clinical documents for discharge.
3. One identity band is removed from the baby (two are attached from birth) and attached to the bed letter/hospital file and mother and baby leave the ward.
4. At the security gate outside the ward, the security personnel check bands on mother and baby with the discharge summary.
5. If all is well (same name appears on both bands as well as discharge summary), the mother and baby are permitted to leave the hospital premises.

A 35-year-old mother who had given birth to a boy the previous day was discharged with a newborn. However, the security officer noticed the baby had a name tag which did not match that of the mother. 

He alerted the nursing staff and an investigation was undertaken. The mother and the baby were fetched from their home within a few hours on the same day.

Health checks were conducted on the baby before he was reunited with his 31-year-old biological mother, who was still in hospital.

“The issue of swapping of babies was an unfortunate incident which was corrected with speed,” health department spokesperson Motaletale Modiba said.

On average, 60 babies are born per day (28 through caesarean section and 32 through normal vaginal delivery).

Asked if the hospital had enough healthcare workers for the amount of patients it caters for daily, Modiba said the number of employees in the hospital is 6,223, which is not in line with the requirements.

“In efforts to deliver quality healthcare, the hospital continues to recruit all levels of staff members as and when posts become vacant and there is an approved budget.”

TimesLIVE

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