Ethelwynn Stellenberg
South Africa
Title: Retrospective Audit Analysis of Malpractice Litigation Cases In Nursing Practice in South Africa: A pilot study
Biography
Biography: Ethelwynn Stellenberg
Abstract
Malpractice is compromising the quality and safety of patient care. In South Africa the underlying factors which result in adverse events causing extensive morbidity and mortality are not well understood. Many patients admitted to health establishments are subjected to malpractice negligence not related to their actual healthcare problem.
For the purpose of this presentation the results of a pilot study will be presented which was completed for a current national study “Retrospective Audit Analysis of Malpractice Litigation Cases
In Nursing Practice in South Africa”. The objectives included categorising the incident types and determining the factors associated with adverse events involving nursing practitioners that have resulted in malpractice litigation, identifying other members of the health service team that were associated with the adverse events that resulted in malpractice litigation and to assess the severity of the adverse events associated with malpractice litigation. The legal and clinical records of 42 trial bundles of cases which were either heard in South African High courts or settled out of court provided the opportunistic cohort for the pilot study. The trial bundles of cases over a period of 11 years (2005-2015) from predominantly attorneys and advocates in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and Western Cape were used to obtain clinical, legal and circumstantial data surrounding each case. Ethics approval was obtained for the study from Stellenbosch University (Ref N16/02/027).
Data was collected with an audit instrument and analysed using the SPSS computer software with the support of a biostatistician. Results showed that 57% of the adverse events were severe, 26% major and 17% moderate. Among the patients affected 57% were disabled, 93% had an increase in hospital stay, the quality of lives of 93% were affected and 7% died as a result of the adverse event. No difference were identified between the factors contributing to malpractice litigation in private and public hospitals. Further results will be discussed at the presentation.