Limpopo health department faces R10bn medico-legal woes

A R10 billion medico-legal claim in the Limpopo health department has set tongues wagging in the province.

With opposition parties claiming this has the potential to completely empty the provincial health department’s purse and increase instability in the province’s health system.

R266.8m in medico-legal claims

This comes after a recent response to a parliamentary question indicating that the Limpopo Department of Health has paid out R266.8 million in medico-legal claims from January 2020 to December 2023 from 30 claims.

The department, according to the report, also had 903 medico-legal claims filed against it and spent R63.1 million on legal costs, The Citizen has learnt.

Limpopo has always struggled to contain medico-legal liabilities in the past years, as in 2022, its medico-legal claims stood at R14 billion.

In February of the same year, the Vhember district health facilities had 500 medico-legal cases amounting to R5.251 billion, Capricorn district had 330 claims amounting to R2.356 billion, Mopani district had 322 cases amounting to R2.683 billion, Sekhukhune district had 305 cases amounting to R3.006 billion, and Waterberg district had 118 cases amounting to R766.053 million.

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For the period between 2014/15 and 2021/22, the department registered 1 773 cases and incurred liabilities of R8.4 billion. The Vhembe district still accounts for the highest number of cases at 594 and the highest medico-legal liabilities at R5 billion.

This has since raised a lot of brouhaha among the residents, with opposition parties making a meal out of the department.

Province’s hospital conditions worsen – DA

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Limpopo, the third-biggest political party in the province, was the first to spite bile.

“The factors related to the root causes of the high rate of litigation against the department are critical staff shortages in high-risk areas. This includes clinical errors, poor quality healthcare, lack of professionalism, poor communication and staff attitude, lack of equipment, failure to obtain informed consent, missed diagnosis, failure to conduct basic investigations, and system errors, among others,” DA Limpopo provincial chair Lindy Wilson told The Citizen.

She said the rising number of claims in Limpopo shows that hospital conditions in the province are not improving but continue to worsen.

“Limpopo’s health facilities are in an appalling state, and the hundreds of millions spent on medical negligence claims could vastly improve the condition of our healthcare facilities.”

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“These claims threaten to bankrupt and collapse the health system in the province and the departmental strategies to reduce litigation, improve governance, and improve the quality of healthcare residents receive.”

Firm action, Wilson said, is needed to improve the quality of care in the province’s hospitals to ensure they are functional and do not inflict further harm on patients. The failure by the department to address litigation claims, she said, resulted in the deterioration of care in the healthcare system.

Rot starts from the head

The General Secretary for the Bolsheviks political party in Limpopo, Seun Mogotji, said when the fish rots, it starts from the head.

“The healthcare system in Limpopo has deteriorated because the centre does not hold. The department will continue to bleed millions in medico-legal claims until the leadership takes charge. Serious action is needed to be taken here. Not tomorrow, not next week, or after the May elections, but now,” said Mogotji.

In response, the Limpopo Department of Health confirmed it is now sitting with a staggering R10 billion of contingency liabilities.

“Our total contingency liability for medico legal is standing at just over R10 billion out of 1440 cases,” said spokesperson Neil Shikwambana on Wednesday.

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