SASOG condemns closure of maternity unit at Netcare Alberlito Hospital

The South African Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (SASOG) has expressed its concern at the manner in which its members have been treated pending the closure of the maternity unit at Netcare’s Alberlito hospital in Ballito, and at Netcare’s apparent lack of regard for the community that is served by these doctors.?The society is also calling on Netcare to reconsider its decision to close the maternity unit and has requested an urgent meeting with relevant Netcare executives to discuss this decision and to explore alternative solutions.

Earlier this month, residents of Balito gathered at the hospital to protest the pending closure. According to Netcare, it has decided to close the unit due to dwindling demand for maternity services in the upmarket town.

The five ObGyn specialists and four paediatricians with practices at?the hospital have been informed that their leases will not be renewed in January next year and that they must vacate their consulting rooms by the end of April. Netcare has also stated that the hospital will no longer offer admission facilities to sick children and birthing woman from the end of April 2023 and that the unit, comprising 37 beds, will be repurposed for higher income-generating services, SASOG says in a statement.

SASOG is also disputing a media statement on the matter, released by Netcare on 24 October. Dr Haynes van der Merwe, SASOG President, says that society believes the statement contains factual inaccuracies and is misleading to the public. In its statement, Netcare states that only 15 deliveries per month have been recorded over the last 15 years with an average of just 13 deliveries per month during 2022. Netcare also states that in the last six years 99.5% of deliveries were by Caesarean section. According to the ObGyn specialists practicing at Alberlito, 327 births occurred over the past year alone, 62 of which were vaginal deliveries and 265 Caesarean section births.?“We find the publication of incorrect figures by Netcare dishonest and a deliberate attempt to discredit the group of specialists”, says Dr van der Merwe.

SASOG also refutes Netcare’s reference to “patient safety” as a feasible consideration in arriving at the decision to re-allocate capacity. The Society believes that the studies cited by Netcare in its statement and its comment that ‘mothers and their babies are at higher risk of complications when they have their deliveries at hospitals with an extremely low number of births’, are misleading and are being referenced out of context.?Dr van der Merwe says that the Alberlito maternity unit is a specialist-driven unit which is vastly different from the obstetric units included in the referenced studies, which may be junior non-specialist doctor or even midwife driven. He adds that the studies are quite old and that Netcare’s statement conveniently ignores the fact that some adverse outcomes are increased in higher volume centres.

“It would be much more appropriate to compare the outcomes of deliveries in Alberlito to other hospitals in the Netcare group to see whether there are any differences in the maternal or neonatal outcomes”, he says.

According to the Netcare statement, a concession will be made whereby 15 of the 37 beds will be made available to paediatric patients.?SASOG questions why, when Netcare is prepared to make a concession for paediatric patients, it could not make a similar concession to have maternity beds available.?Furthermore, SASOG believe that, while it is true that maternity units require the services of midwives, these midwives could be utilised in other service areas when not required in the maternity wards, if a concession were to be made to accommodate obstetric services.?

Dr van der Merwe suggests that the assurances made in the Netcare statement regarding the continued availability and resourcing of maternal and paediatric healthcare are misleading. “A facility cannot be considered ‘fully resourced for all paediatric and maternity emergencies’ without the support of available specialised paediatricians and obstetricians”, he says.

SASOG refutes Netcare’s viewpoint that patient demand and growing community needs are better served through this shift in focus by Netcare.?

“While SA’s birth rate has declined slightly over the last eight years, according to the recently published ‘Africa Wealth Report’, Durban and Umhlanga are in the top five wealthiest cities in Africa and Umhlanga and Ballito are two of the fastest growing towns in South Africa. The demand for maternity services could therefore be expected to increase in the years to come in this particular area”, says Dr van der Merwe.

“SASOG is of the opinion that the factual inaccuracies contained in Netcare’s media statement undermine and significantly misrepresent the hard work, dedication and good medical practices of the paediatric and obstetric staff that have served the community since Alberlito hospital’s inception.

“These five ObGyn specialists are dedicated to this community and are seeking ways to maintain services. We believe that children and pregnant woman should always have access to community-based healthcare. This decision will affect the children and pregnant woman who live in Ballito and will have a negative impact on the livelihood of most of these clinicians and their staff”, concludes Dr van der Merwe.

Sara Nayager, manager of Netcare’s KZN hospital division told Times Live that they will be doing their utmost to ensure alternative for affected specialists in office spaces close to the hospital,”

?Source:?SASOG media release