Astronomical amounts in medical negligence claims have been paid out by provincial Health Departments, with Gauteng’s having soared 36% in the past year – increasing to R696m in 2023/24 from R512m the year before.
Business Day’s analysis of the data provided by Health Minister Motsoaledi in response to questions from EFF MP Vuyani Pambo shows Gauteng’s trajectory is in sharp contrast to most of the other provinces, which – with the exception of Limpopo and the Northern Cape – paid out less in negligence claims in 2023/24 than they did the year before.
Payouts fell 41% in KwaZulu-Natal to R119m in the period, halved in Mpumalanga to R82.7m, and dropped 27% in the Western Cape to R120m.
Gauteng accounted for almost a third of the R7.6bn paid out to successful claimants by all of the provinces in the past five years, and accounted for almost half of the R1.51bn they paid out in 2023/24. The provincial Health Departments paid out, altogether, R1.57bn in 2022/23.
Pambo’s questions homed in on payouts to the legal fraternity, currently the focus of an investigation by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU).
Referring to a joint statement issued by the department and the SIU in August, the Minister said there was evidence of collusion between attorneys, touts, nurses and doctors in the public and private healthcare sectors, but not all fraudulent claims involved healthcare professionals.
Most of the claims against the state are for birth injuries, such as cerebral palsy.
Provincial Health Departments had paid out claims to 410 law firms in the past five years, said the Minister, the the largest amount being R465m, paid by the Eastern Cape to law firm Dayimani Sakhela, followed by R357m paid by the KwaZulu-Natal Health Department to Justice Reichlin Ramsamy Attorneys.
These payouts were for multiple claims over the five-year period, but no details were provided about the nature of the claims or size of individual payouts.
KZN takes a knock
Earlier this week, the provincial MEC for Health was ordered to pay R13.1m in damages to the mother of a now 10-year-old girl born with brain damage at the Christ the King Hospital in Ixopo.
The Star reports that the KZN High Court (Pietermaritzburg) found the MEC to be 100% liable for the damages incurred by the mother on behalf of her daughter – who is totally dependent on others for her daily functioning.
The woman said the hospital never told her that her child had suffered brain damage at birth, and that the diagnosis of cerebral palsy was only made when the baby was eight-months-old. She can hear, see and talk, but is unable to speak or walk. She can sit unaided for a few seconds at a time and also needs assistance with eating because of swallowing difficulties.
Her mental age is estimated to be between nine and 12 months.
The mother testified that she and her daughter live in a small flat in Durban where they are close to the hospital, that she has to carry her child on her back when she goes to buy groceries or run other errands, and that most of her day comprises taking care of her daughter, who has to eat every two hours with the help of a special aid. She also has to drink water through a syringe.
The court awarded R13.1m to the mother for the child’s medical costs – and to help her to adapt her home to make it more comfortable for the child; to employ a caregiver, and to send her daughter to a special school, as recommended.
Business Day PressReader article – Gauteng’s medical payouts soar 36% (Open access)
The Star PressReader article – Health MEC to pay R13m in cerebral palsy case (Open access)
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Judge rules that negligence, not traditional herbs, caused cerebral palsy
MEC forks out R17m for care of brain-damaged child
ConCourt reserves judgment on Tembisa Hospital cerebral palsy matter
Gauteng Health settles for R19,2m in cerebral palsy action
KZN High Court rejects ‘payment in kind’ for medical negligence