Finance Minister Tito Mboweni has warned against the rising medical claims against the state with the bill now sitting at almost R100bn. Mboweni said it was unacceptable that there were large claims against the state. The Mercury reports government has previously blamed some of the law firms for instituting claims against the Health Department.
In the Budget Review, it is stated there were attempts to reduce the medical claims as the current legal bill was unsustainable and it would blow the budget. “In recent years medical malpractice claims and litigation have increased rapidly. Although in many cases the quality of care is insufficient the increase in claims is inconsistent with certain indicators of health outcomes in the public sector,” states the Budget Review.
“Since 2014, contingent liabilities and payments of medico-legal claims in the public sector have increased at an average annual growth rate of 30% and 23% respectively. In 2018/19, medico-legal claims contingent liabilities reached R99.2bn while medico-legal claim payments reached R2bn. These payments are affecting the budgets of public facilities and, in turn, the delivery of services,” the review adds. “Due to large lump sum payments often awarded in malpractice cases the effects are unplanned,” states the Budget review.
It said the provincial health departments are tightening loopholes in the system and putting in place co-ordinated efforts to fight against these large claims. The Special Investigating Unit was also probing fraud cases in this area. Some of the lawyers were arrested recently for defrauding the Health Department.
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