A Bill aimed at structuring the payment of medico-legal claims against the state has been rejected by Parliament’s Justice & Correctional Services Committee.
The State Liability Amendment Bill was intended as an interim measure to deal with rising medico-legal claims, pending the outcome of a larger investigation into medico-legal claims by the South African Law Reform Commission (SALRC), reports BusinessLIVE.
In the pipeline for about five years, the Bill proposed to replace lump-sum payments for medical negligence in favour of periodic payments, and have public healthcare facilities render future medical care instead of awarding monetary damages.
The state’s medico-legal claims were more than R68bn in 2022/23 – equivalent to 75% of the health budget for that year.
“The committee is not in favour of piecemeal amendments to legislation and, therefore, recommends that legislation to amend the State Liability Act be tabled once the SALRC has concluded its investigations and after meaningful consultation with stakeholders, including the National Treasury and the Department of Health,” the committee said in its report.
Parliament had sent the 2018 Bill back to the Departments of Health and Justice in 2021 for further work.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
State scrabbles for solutions to medico-legal claims’ burden
Auditor-General flags ballooning medico-legal claims
Urgent need for diverse strategy to address rising medico-legal claims