We will have a possibility where doctors will decide not to operate higher risk patients
“We will have a possibility where doctors will decide not to operate higher risk patients and a study revealed that almost 80% of doctors are in fear of litigation because of a simple error on operating a patient.”
SAPPF calls on govt to review murder charge after patient dies during surgery
6 September 2022
by Karabo Tebele
A surgeon in KwaZulu-Natal is expected to return to the Richards Bay Magistrate Court on 04 October 2022 for charges of murder.
Bongani Bingwa spoke to the chief executive officer of the South African Private Practitioners Forum (SAPPF), Dr Simon Strachan, about a surgeon charged with a medical murder.
The South African Private Practitioners Forum (SAPPF) has called on the Department of Justice to review negligence and murder charges against medical doctors in operating patients.
He was released on R10,000 bail a week ago after a 35-year-old patient died while undergoing surgery at Richards Bay Hospital on 22 August 2019.
The forum's chief executive officer Dr Simon Strachan has questioned how the police are handling the case.
Why is it taking so long for this inquest to be completed? To our knowledge, the doctor involved has not been requested to submit any documentation for the inquest.
We are also asking the Department of Justice and Correctional Services to relook at the definitions around the negligence.
Strachan added that the murder case against the suspect will spark fear in doctors who are tasked to do high-risk operations.
Doctors are now looking at this issue where they question the risk of getting arrested for performing an error on a patient.
“We will have a possibility where doctors will decide not to operate higher risk patients and a study revealed that almost 80% of doctors are in fear of litigation because of a simple error on operating a patient.”
https://omny.fm/shows/the-breakfast-show-702/doctor-charged-with-medical-murder