Holding health care professionals accountable for negligence and misdiagnosis

Professor Sylvester Chima explains options people have to complain and seek compensation when they experience medical malpractice.

CapeTalk listener, Marlon, shared the ordeal his domestic worker went through at the hands of doctors who misdiagnosed her as having arthritis when, in fact, she'd had a stroke.

But what happens when doctors misdiagnose you, who do you complain to?

Professor Sylvester Chima of the University of KwaZulu-Natal speaks about options people have to complain and seek compensation when they experience medical malpractice, negligence, and/or misdiagnosis.

There are certain standards that are expected of a qualified registered health care professional. One of those standards is that there are certain things you are not allowed to miss because you are certified and should be able to recognise a particular situation that something went wrong.

Professor Sylvester Chima, Head of programme of Bio & research Ethics and Medical Law - UKZN

If a medical doctor falls below that expected standard, that case is considered as negligence.

Professor Sylvester Chima, Head of programme of Bio & research Ethics and Medical Law - UKZN

Chima explains that the woman can also take the hospital to the Office of Health Care Standard Compliance for the hospital care that was provided.

This serves the complaint that she was left to queue for a long time when she had an emergency.

One of the standards expected of a hospital will include issues of triage, in other words, to be able to identify that this is an emergency situation and requires urgent care.

Professor Sylvester Chima, Head of programme of Bio & research Ethics and Medical Law - UKZN

If it is a complaint against a health professional then the matter should be reported to the Health Care Professionals Council of South Africa (HPCSA).

Professor Sylvester Chima, Head of programme of Bio & research Ethics and Medical Law - UKZN

To hear the rest of the conversation, listen below:

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