Motsoaledi wants Parly to support mediation to settle medico-legal claims instead of courts
The Health Minister said the current rate at which claims are being lodged against the State, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) will be probing dodgy claims for the next 20 years.
FILE: Minister of Health Aaron Motsoaledi. Picture: GCIS
CAPE TOWN - Minister of Health Aaron Motsoaledi is asking Parliament to support mediation as a means to settle medico-legal claims instead of the courts.
He said the current rate at which claims are being lodged against the State, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) will be probing dodgy claims for the next 20 years.
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Appearing before a joint meeting of three parliamentary committees on Wednesday, Motsoaledi said doctors are now practising defensive medicine for fear of being sued.
Last week, the SIU told Parliament medical claims could cost the State as much as R4 billion and recommended an overhaul of the process.
On Wednesday, Motsoaledi confirmed the collusion between unscrupulous lawyers and medical staff to submit exorbitant and bogus claims, particularly for children with cerebral palsy.
He said it’s changing the way medicine is practised.
“When you enter a doctor’s rooms, they are no longer looking at you as a patient. They are looking at you as a possible litigant.”
The minister is advising South Africa to introduce mediation, used in a number of Scandinavian countries, to settle medico-legal claims rather than a court.
“Let’s get experts to decide how to compensate these people. Even poor people, those who don’t know lawyers, end up being compensated because it’s a fair process.”
Motsoaledi said the Law Reform Commission is already researching how compulsory mediation can be introduced.