JOHANNESBURG - There’s growing concern about patients dying and being harmed in Gauteng’s public hospitals.
More than 7,000 serious adverse events were recorded in the last financial year, including patient accidents, infections, falls and cases of self-harm.
Experts say many of these incidents could have been prevented.
Dr Aslam Dasoo from the Progressive Health Forum says there’s been a steady deterioration in the system.
He notes that if you look at the state’s ballooning medico-legal bill, it tracks this trend of negligence.
He says it’s often easy to blame individual doctors -- and in some cases they are at fault -- but many are working under extreme pressure.
Overwhelming caseloads push staff to cut corners, especially in poorly managed facilities, where conditions further deteriorate.
“There’s enough blame to go around,” he says. “Let’s be honest about this. The public health system as a whole has been under pressure.”
He describes the public sector as a very large, integrated health system, and says it’s important to see these incidents in that broader context.
According to Dasoo, there’s been a consistent decline in quality of care, driven in large part by fewer health professionals on duty.
A huge number of posts remain vacant, leaving too few qualified staff to cope with a growing patient load.
Yet, he stresses, South Africa’s health professionals are world-class and receive excellent training.
“The problem is not in the training,” he says, “but in how their work is applied within this failing system.”