The Attorney General of Botswana, two doctors and a nurse, working at Sekgoma Memorial Hospital in Serowe, have been slapped with a P7m law suit by Tinny Etlhabanye, whose 11-year-old son underwent a surgical operation at the hospital on the 28 of July 2011 leaving him with an amputated arm.
According to summons prepared by Macbain Kang on behalf of Etlhabanye, a day after the surgical operation, the child’s hand started swelling and was taken back to hospital where he was attended to by a nurse who also gave him some pain killers but refused to admit him.
On 3 August the child developed some complications and was readmitted and his arm had by them became infected and on the 16 August had the arm amputated.
Four months later, on 12 December 2011 the child had to undergo yet another corrective surgery as the first surgery would not heal.
Etlhabanye, the plaintiff in this matter, claims that all the matters set above were caused by the negligence of the Attorney General, her agents or servants who were negligent in that they have failed to clean the surgical instruments before conducting the surgery and failed to keep sterilised equipment in good, proper and hygienic condition.
Etlhabanye further claims that they failed to perform the orthopedic surgery in clean and hygienic environment and failed to exercise due care and attention in performance of the two surgical operations.
Finally, she says that, as a result, the plaintiff suffered pain, injury, loss and damage.
Last year, the same hospital was in the news when some patients claimed that their eyes had been damaged by the doctors at the hospital during operations.
