Billions owed by EC Health Dept to claimants in medico-legal cases impacting service delivery, Parly hears
In the past financial year, unpaid claims stood at almost R23 billion, which is not budgeted for.
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CAPE TOWN - The billions owed by the Eastern Cape Department of Health to claimants in medico-legal cases is impacting service delivery in the province, Parliament has heard.
In the past financial year, unpaid claims stood at almost R23 billion, which was not budgeted for.
Briefing the Select Committee on Finance on audit outcomes for the province on Tuesday, the Auditor-General (AG)’s Office said it was concerned by what it described as an "unmanageable balance".
The Eastern Cape Department of Health has received a qualified audit report from the AG's Office for the 2023/24 financial year.
The business unit leader in the AG's Office, Thobile Nteta, said that paying out medico-legal claims was giving rise to a number of accounting irregularities.
"What they end up having to do is pay through money that was budgeted for service delivery, and they end up having to settle these medico-legal claims. So, you find non-achievement of targets and unauthorised expenditure."
He said that poor record keeping was also making it difficult for the department to defend the cases in court.
"The investigations around identifying the responsibility might also take long."
The AG’s Office said its visits to health facilities revealed near non-existent use of information technology in the administration of medicines, while patient information was still being recorded manually.