MBOMBELA – A total of 151 claims for alleged medical negligence has been installed against the provincial Department of Health during the 2013/2014 financial year to the value of a whopping R387, 3 million. That is R725 000 more than the previous year when claims amounted to R314, 8 million.
It has cost the department R3,7 million in legal costs so far and up to date, only 10 cases filed during 2012/2013 have been finalised and nine during the next financial year. Lowvelder probed the department about provincial medical negligence claims after Minister of Health Dr Aaron Motsoaledi recently announced that litigation against healthcare providers has reached crisis levels.
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Citizen has quoted Motsoaledi as saying during a medico-legal summit in Pretoria earlier this month: “The cost of medical malpractice claims has skyrocketed and the number of claims increased substantially. Let me make it very clear, the crisis we are faced with is not a crisis of public healthcare. It is a crisis faced by everybody in the healthcare profession – public and private. It does not matter where you are,” said Motsoaledi.
“There are four medical specialities that are continually, persistently, and mercilessly being targeted for litigation. These are obstetrics and gynaecology, neurosurgery, neonatology and orthopaedics.”
Motsoaledi added that the trend was significantly detrimental to the healthcare system. He said the cost of indemnity insurance for private specialists in neurosurgery has increased by “a whopping 573 percent” within a period of eight years between 2005 and 2013. “The cost of indemnity insurance for private specialists in obstetrics increased by 382 percent within a similar period and still growing. All these issues have devastating consequences to the healthcare system of a country,” he said.
According to provincial departmental spokesman Mr Dumisani Malamule, the alleged medical negligence took place in 25 state hospitals in the province, including, amongst others, Rob Ferreira, Tonga, Tintswalo, Barberton, Themba, Sabie, Lydenburg, Waterval Boven and Shongwe Hospitals.
On asking why it is taking so long for these cases to be finalised, he replied that some cases don’t proceed past the summons stage and cases that actually do make it to court can take up to five years to finalise because of continuous postponements.
