A healthcare consensus initiative aims to secure agreement on universal health coverage by year-end while coordinating action to improve failing services. Backed by President Cyril Ramaphosa, the independent, confidential process involves about 70 organisations and prominent individuals. The 18-month health consensus-building initiative (HCBI) brings together stakeholders divided over healthcare reform, including the National Health Insurance (NHI) Act. However, it offers…
Tag: Medico-Legal Claims
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Provincial Health Departments Pose a Significant Fiscal Risk
Weak financial controls in provincial health departments pose significant fiscal risks, according to Treasury’s medium-term budget policy statement (MTBPS), tabled in Parliament on Wednesday. Treasury highlighted unpaid obligations, mounting debts and medico-legal claims as key pressures on health budgets. Audit Outcomes and Unpaid Bills Five of the nine provincial health departments received qualified audits for 2025/2026, the Auditor-General told Parliament…
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Medical Indemnity: Managing South Africa’s Liability Risks
Medical indemnity remains a key practice-management concern in South Africa, where negligence claims expose public budgets and private providers to different financial risks. For provincial health departments, compensation payments compete with spending on patient services. Meanwhile, private practitioners rely on their own liability and indemnity arrangements. However, international comparisons require caution. American physician surveys measure doctors’ experience of litigation, while…
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Medical Negligence Claims: Structured Settlements Proposed
The South African Law Reform Commission has recommended scrapping lump-sum payouts for medical negligence claims against the state. Instead, it proposes structured “pay as you go” settlements for public sector patients. In a long-awaited report, the commission put forward two bills. These would let patients and families seek redress through the courts or through a new administrative system run by…
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EC Medico-Legal Claims: SCA Overturns Public Care Remedy
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has struck down a High Court approach that could have reshaped the way the Eastern Cape Department of Health handles escalating medico-legal claims. The appeal court ruled on Wednesday, 11 February 2026, that allowing the department to provide future healthcare services instead of paying damages “violated the child’s best interests”. Appeal Court judge Ashton…