The Actuarial Society of South Africa (ASSA) welcomes the start of the public
participation process initiated by the South African Law Reform Commission (SALRC)
late last week aimed at giving direction to the development of proposed legislation
regarding medical legal claims. The SALRC released a discussion paper last Thursday for
public comment by 31 January 2022.
Lusani Mulaudzi, ASSA public policy actuary, points out that there is currently no
legislation in South Africa that regulates legal claims in the medical field. In June this
year, research commissioned by ASSA as part of its public interest function, identified
the absence of a regulated medical malpractice system in South Africa as a major
contributing factor towards the spiralling medical negligence claims facing the country’s
nine provincial Health Departments.
Mulaudzi says National Treasury’s contingent liability for medical legal claims against
provincial Departments of Health was R111.5 billion at the end of March 2020. “This
represents almost half of the country’s total health budget and could be reduced
significantly if urgent attention is given to regulating the system.”
The ASSA research into medical malpractice claims, conducted by actuary and damages
expert Gregory Whittaker, lists compromised record keeping at provincial hospitals, a
legal system ill-equipped to deal with medical negligence claims and the absence of
legislation that regulates legal claims in the medical field amongst key problem areas
that require urgent attention.
According to Whittaker, a regulated medical malpractice system would go a long way in
achieving the following:
- The prevention of medical injuries and the promotion of patient safety, which are
paramount goals of health care policy. The prospect of liability in damages
should incentivise healthcare professionals to act with reasonable care. - Compensation of injured patients should be a core function of the law regarding
medical malpractice and medical injuries. - Accountability to injured patients in terms of what went wrong, who was
responsible for it, and what efforts are being made to prevent future negligence.