Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has revealed that just a handful of officials countrywide are trained in medico-legal mediation – none of them in Limpopo – but that more than three dozen staff are now attending a foundation course, with the subject being included as a module.
The Minister admitted only 23 officials have been trained in mediation across South Africa (five of them from the NDoH), and that said his department has facilitated training for staff from both national and various provincial departments.
“There were 18 people trained, five of them being from the department, although some of them are no longer employed by either the NDoH or provincial departments,” he said in response to parliamentary questions from DA MP Michele Clarke.
Cape Times report that in September, Motsoaledi had told Parliament his department wanted mediation officers to settle litigation cases out of court, like China, for example, which despite a huge population has fewer cases going to court because most are mediated.
South African provinces boasting officials trained in medico-legal mediation include the Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape and North West – but none in Limpopo.
In the Western Cape, several facility CEOs and managers fro the provincial Health Department have attended mediation courses.
Motsoaledi said 87 medico-legal claims valued at R134m have been mediated in Gauteng, and 16 others worth R4.6m in Mpumalanga, and that the NDoH had re-advertised the tender for companies to assist with this issue after a previous contract expired in 2022.
The tender was advertised in September.
“The HoDs of all provincial departments – with the exception of the Western Cape, which indicated it was not participating in the transversal tender – were asked to release their heads of legal services or medico-legal units to participate in the bid evaluation,” Motsoaledi said.
A total of 52 bids were received and four were disqualified.
Asked about the R72m allocated by the National Treasury in 2019 to deal with medico-claims, Motsoaledi said 58 claims were identified as potentially fraudulent.
“The matters have not yet been finalised by the courts.”
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Is mediation a better option in medico-legal disputes?
Medico-legal liabilities drop as provinces adopt new measures