The Eastern Cape Government’s integrated medico-legal strategy, introduced in 2023, has resulted in a 65% drop in new claims, saving millions of rands – but R4.5bn had still been paid out in the past decade, said new Health MEC Ntandokazi Capa.
And despite the improvement, said provincial Health spokesperson Mkhululi Ndamase, the province still faced claims and contingent liabilities of more than R22bn linked to medical negligence.
The claims have yet to be tested and decided on in court, reports Daily Dispatch.
Capa said the number of claims had dropped from 553 in the 2017/2018 financial year to just more than 190 in the 2023/2024 year, but over the years, the department had forked out billions in negligence claims, compromising the provision of health services.
Delivering her budget and policy speech at the Bhisho legislature recently, the MEC said many of the cases date as far back as 2004.
“These lump sum payments are made from budgets originally allocated for other health services and have led to increasing accruals and payables year-on-year,” she added.
The government had responded by implementing an integrated medico-legal strategy, aimed at halting the flow of funds from the department through large upfront lump sum settlements; strengthening administrative systems and the legal defence of current cases, and targeting clinical and forensic interventions that reduced the risk of future litigation.
Subsequently, new claims had “decreased significantly”.
In the 2023/ 2024 financial year, more than R340m had been paid negligence claims, and so far this financial year, R95m had been paid out since 1 April.
However, DA MPL Jane Cowley said the department was “factually bankrupt and has no cash flow to speak of”, and that the party believed “additional strategies could be explored to contribute to improving finances”.
She said the department was struggling to provide basic services because of its cash flow challenges.
“From a budget of R30.1bn for the 2024/2025 financial year, a whopping R6.2bn was owed for payables and accruals to service providers and suppliers from the previous financial year,” she said.
“Of the remaining R23.9bn, about R1.6bn goes to payments of capital assets. Another R400m goes to transfers and subsidies, and a massive R20.1bn goes to salaries.
“This leaves a paltry R1.8bn for the goods and services budget, which must cover medicines, surgical supplies, implants, medical equipment, oxygen, food, linen, and all the other soft services at hospitals across the province, and that is a great concern.”
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Eastern Cape Health boosts legal teams to fight bogus medical claims
Eastern Cape ruling could change how medico-legal claims are settled
Eastern Cape’s plan to turn tidal wave of negligence claims