The staggering R310m that was attached in Gauteng Health’s bank accounts on behalf of medical negligence claimants was led by "unscrupulous lawyers and non-compliant sheriffs", says Gauteng Health MEC Bandile Masuku. The Mercury reports Masuku was speaking following the attachment of the department’s bank accounts this week to the tune of R310m following non-payment of medical negligence claims since April last year.
Masuku acknowledged that the province was saddled with more than R20bn in medical negligence claims, but said that attachments initiated by “cartel lawyers” were not only non-compliant, but were “unfair because we are dealing with an essential service”. “The engagement that we had with the Judge President here in Gauteng also indicated the non-compliance in terms of attachments and gave us some confidence that these things will not affect us going forward.”
According to the report, he announced that his department had embarked on a mediation strategy, which is led by retired Judge Neels Claassen, to try to prevent the "exorbitant claims against Gauteng’s health services.
The Health Department says it has saved up to R10m on medico-legal cases by settling disputes out of court. A TimesLIVE report notes that according to Kwara Kekana, spokesperson for Masuku, this amount excluded the legal costs and costs of acquiring medical experts that could have been incurred through litigation had these cases not been mediated.
“The mediation process has proven to be one of the most successful factors in reducing cases of medical negligence and reducing the contingent liability thus far,” Kekana said. The mediation strategy was implemented in October 2019. “Mediation resumed in February … and the department has since mediated seven more matters in February. The department has mediated a total of 13 matters since October to date,” she said.
Kekana said that the department’s reputation was being restored as the complainants felt valued by the mediation team and process. “Not only did the department save on the capital amount, it is also important to note that the greatest savings were on litigation costs which would have accumulated through the years even before the matter had gone to court,” she added.
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