Medical negligence claims cost Mpumalanga’s Health Department R10 billion

FF Plus

Medical negligence claims cost Mpumalanga’s Health Department R10 billion
Medical negligence claims cost Mpumalanga’s Health Department R10 billion

The FF Plus insisted during a question-and-answer session in the Mpumalanga Legislature on 1 November 2022, that the province’s exorbitant medical negligence claims amounting to R10 billion must be urgently discussed.

During the 2020/21 financial year, claims for medical negligence against the provincial Department of Health were the third highest in the country.

The Department’s total contingent liability has increased with more than R90 million and currently stands at just over R10,2 billion.

More than R9,9 billion of this is for medical negligence.

The Department of Health has critical medical vacancies, but a total of nearly R57 million is paid in salaries to only 44 senior management positions. The Department does not even have a permanent Head of Department at this stage.

Apart from the large number of vacancies, the unavailability of medication and surgically diverse equipment also contribute to the claims of negligence.

According to the latest quarterly report of 2022/23, the medical depot in Middelburg did not always have at least 95% medical stock available.

The average percentage of available medical stock was a mere 84%. It resulted in delays with medical deliveries to clinics and hospitals.

The same report indicates that 226 medical facilities in the province urgently require repair work and maintenance, while two clinics need to be replaced in their entirety.

It is clear that the Department is being run into the ground.

The ruling party is not fulfilling its constitutional duty to provide proper healthcare to the people of Mpumalanga. It is evident that political motives and self-serving tendencies are at the order of the day.

Mpumalanga deserves better than the ANC.

Read the original article in Afrikaans by Werner Weber on FF Plus

SOURCEFF Plus