Addressing the litigation crisis in Obstetrics & Gynaecology

Abstract

Obstetricians & Gynaecologists in South Africa currently face a medico-legal crisis of serious proportions. The premiums of occurrence based indemnity insurance is now more than R1 million per annum, forcing many obstetricians to reconsider not only their choice of indemnity cover provider, but also their ability to provide obstetric care to patients in private practice. Although data is not available, this state of affairs most likely affects the choices prospective registrars with an interest in the discipline is making, resulting in the potential loss of high quality registrars being attracted to the profession.