MEC liable after loss of leg

The Gauteng health MEC was 100% liable for the damages suffered by a young Rethabiseng woman whose leg had to be amputated because of shoddy treatment at Mamelodi Hospital, a high court judge has ruled.

Judge Annali Basson ruled in the High Court in Pretoria that the health MEC was liable for the damages suffered by Ayanda Mtsweni, 18, and her mother Christina Mashilo, 44, because of the negligence of staff at the Mamelodi Hospital in 2011.

The judge dismissed the MEC’s counter-claim against Ayanda’s mother, who was accused of abdicating her parental obligations, saying there was not a shred of evidence to indicate that Mashilo had forsaken her daughter.

She granted a punitive costs order against the MEC, saying the department’s persistent denial of negligence, despite the absence of the Mamelodi Hospital’s medical records, raised concerns that the department did not appreciate its obligation toward the public it was meant to serve.

The department added insult to injury by trying its best to shift some of the blame on the shoulders of a mother who desperately tried to care for and save the life of her daughter, she said.

Ayanda went to hospital after injuring her knee while playing at school, but was discharged. She was later admitted to Mamelodi, but went to see a private doctor because of severe pain.

When she became ill several days later, the doctor referred her to the Bronkhorstspruit Hospital with detailed instructions for her treatment. She was transferred to Mamelodi, where none of the instructions were followed and she received no treatment for three days.

Ayanda was suffering from spreading sepsis and was in a critical condition when she was eventually transferred to the Steve Biko Hospital, where her leg had to be amputated to save her life.

Basson found that staff at the Mamelodi Hospital had been negligent by not removing a full plaster cast from Ayanda’s leg and not treating her appropriately.