Soaring legal claims could sink health system

More than 5,500 medical negligence claims had been made against the Health Department since 2014, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said. And the number grows each year.

In response to a parliamentary question by DA MP Anchen Dreyer, Motsoaledi said 1,562 claims had been made in the 2014/15 year, 1,732 in 2015/16 and 1,934 in 2016/17. So far in the current financial year, 360 claims have been lodged.

In 2014/15, Motsoaledi said his department paid R391,319,960.08 in medico-legal claims.

At 450, the Eastern Cape had the highest number of claims that year. Gauteng had the highest monetary value in claims with 396, totalling R154-million.

The most common reasons included maternity and obstetric claims, as well as orthopaedic and cerebral palsy cases.

In 2015/16, the total amount paid for medico-legal claims skyrocketed to R730866365.29. The Eastern Cape had the highest number of claims at 524, mostly for maternity and orthopaedic cases.

Gauteng's 330 claims for faults ranging from cerebral palsy to botched operations, amputations and uninformed consent totalled R433-million.

In 2016/17, the total value of claims climbed to R1.2-billion, with Gauteng's 521 claims accounting for almost half at R566-million.

Earlier this year, provincial health departments appearing before parliament said claims were skyrocketing mostly as a result of unscrupulous personal injury lawyers taking advantage of the system in much the same way as the Road Accident Fund had been used.

Earlier this year, the SA Law Reform Commission released a discussion paper around medico-legal claims after being approached in 2015 to investigate the matter.

That report indicates an "urgent" need for law reform as no specific legislation currently exists to deal with medical specific claims.

It also states that the impact of these claims is "reaching dire proportions".

"The more damages to be paid, the less money is available for service delivery, the poorer the quality of the service rendered by the hospital, the more room for negligence and error, the more claims. It's a vicious circle and, if not addressed, the entire public health system will implode," it states.

It also points to growing claims in the private sector stating the Medical Protection Society, the largest indemnity backer for health professionals, found long-term claim frequency increased by 27% from 2009 to 2015.