A Parliamentary Committee has raised concerns about medical legal claims in the Eastern Cape and Kwazulu Natal where pay-outs in the 2016/2017 financial year were higher than other provinces.
According to Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Health, medical legal claims in the Eastern Cape for the year under review was about R210m.
The Provinces health Department has already acknowledged that it is facing legal claims amounting to a staggering R14bn.
In lengthy statement Friday the Health Portfolio Committee said it will form a task team to deal with “health-related” concerns.
The Health Portfolio Committee and the Standing Committee on Appropriation held a joint three-day meeting where they were briefed by the National Treasury, the Auditor-General of South Africa, the Financial Fiscal Commission and the nine provincial departments of health and provincial treasuries.
“They were briefed on the effective coordination and alignment of national and provincial spheres of government in the delivery of health services so as to ensure value for money, efficient planning and resource allocation.”
The Committees heard about a number of challenges facing provincial departments, including the growth of medical legal claims, which featured prominently in the briefings from all the provinces that appeared before the Committees.
The Committees expressed concern about the exorbitant amounts provincial departments are paying to resolve these claims. The provinces alleged that in some cases there is collusion between lawyers and departmental personnel.
Members of the Committee said immediate action needs to be taken to address the problem. The Committees were of the view that law enforcement agencies should be informed so that companies and individuals can be charged. Members of the Committee indicated that the matter must be reported to the Competition Commission.
Briefing the Committees, the Gauteng provincial Health Department said that it has filed to oppose a case before the Constitutional Court in which lawyers are charging 25% of future medical costs and also 25% of the total claim.
The Committees welcomed the decision by the Gauteng health department to oppose the case and called on other provinces to support the province by being friends of the court during the court hearing.
The Committee proposed that the matter is escalated to the national Minister of Health.
