Medical Negligence in Zimbabwe

In the foreword to G Feltoe & TJ Nyapadi, Law & Medicine in Zimbabwe (Baobab Books in Association with the Legal Resources Foundation, 1989, Harare), Dr RJ Ndlovu noted that, ‘[t]oday’s health consumers are much more conscious of their rights and, while it is recognized that the quality of health care should not depend on the fear of litigation, it is a fact that consumers who know and demand their rights usually get those rights recognized.’

Notwithstanding the complexities and difficulties of medical negligence claims in Zimbabwe, the health consumers in Zimbabwe have not held back, nor hesitated to take health care providers to task when they have felt that their rights have been violated, or that medical professionals have been negligent in the discharge of their duties. It is for this reason, that there has been an increase in medical negligence litigation in Zimbabwe involving, central, provincial, district and general hospitals. Conscious health consumers in Zimbabwe have sued both public and private hospitals.

What is medical negligence?

One commentator, has noted the following:

    Though the assessment of negligence is difficult, the legal principle is simple and clear. Negligence is     nothing more or less than the failure to exercise the care and diligence of a reasonable person in the     particular circumstances. The reasonable person in medical practice becomes the ordinary average     doctor. The test of negligence become what the average doctor would do under the particular     circumstances.

Examples of medical negligence cases

There have been a number of cases on medical negligence in Zimbabwe. Medical negligence is also known as medical malpractice in terms of which a doctor, surgeon, hospital and the nursing staff may be found liable for injuries.

Some of the leading cases involving medical negligence have involved a failure by a medical doctor to take X-Ray. 47 In one case, a hospital was held vicariously liable for the actions and failures of an ear and nose specialist it assigned to what he was not qualified to do. Therefore, a failure by the hospital to appreciate that an ear and nose specialist did not qualify to do a maxillary facial surgical operation was a case of medical negligence.

Medical staff have been found liable for medical negligence for failure to initiate emergence care regarding pregnant patients. In one case, the failure to initiate emergency care for a pregnant patient whose child suffered hypoxia and perinatal asphyxia, resulted in cerebral palsy.

Health practitioners are at law allowed to diagnose, treat and advise patients. Other examples of medical negligence cases include a failure to diagnose malaria, to use diagnostic instrument, to diagnose appendicitis. There are also instances in terms of which health practitioners have been found to be negligent for the wrongful diagnosis of ailment, failure to diagnose wrist fracture, the use of contaminated medical tools and faulty medical equipment.

The incorrect operation of resuscitation equipment, which may result in a patient suffering a cardiac arrest and leaves a patient in a vegetative state is a case of medical negligence.

The failure to correctly place a breathing tube into a patient is professional negligence. So is the failure to properly put a cast on a patient. Similarly, the failure to diagnose and properly treat ischemia,the failure to follow general medical procedure and the failure to allow sufficient time for check upon completion of operation amounts to negligence.

In one case, a registered nurse was found liable for failing to confirm an swab count before a surgeon closed a patient. The swab had been left in the patient’s abdomen. In another case, poor nursing assessment of a patient resulted in the birth of a child with avoidable physical deformity. This was a case of medical malpractice.

Finally, where a health practitioner fails to administer the correct dosage of medication, or prescribes the wrong dosage, or administers wrong medication or administers an overdose of drugs such practitioners may be found guilty of professional misconduct.