Medico-legal cases under investigation after concern over graft

THE provincial department of health is investigating suspected fraud by attorneys in several medico-legal cases.

Superintendent-general Dr Thobile Mbengashe said they suspect that attorneys around the province are using his department to make easy cash.

“We think there is a lot of fraud with these cases against the department. So we are currently actively investigating potential fraud. That fraud comes up because the RAF (Road Accident Fund) has closed and now people [lawyers] think they can target the department of health,” Mbengashe said.

“The office of the premier and treasury have been really helpful in ensuring that we have support in hiring adequate staff to avoid medico-legal cases. We admit that unless we improve the quality of services things will not get better. To do that we need to have sufficient staff and sufficient equipment,” Mbengashe added.

Black Lawyers Association (BLA) provincial president Bayethe Maswazi condemned Mbengashe’s accusations saying they are without cause.

“This demonstrates a lack of understanding of the role of attorneys in society by the department of health. Instead of confronting the real problem, they seek to find a distraction on the part of the attorneys.

“There are problems within the department which are creating a breeding ground for these cases. Their problems have nothing to do with attorneys,” Maswazi said.

National Association of Democratic Lawyers (Nadel) president Mvuzo Notyesi said the department of health should not shift blame onto lawyers when they know their issues stem from maladministration and poor leadership.

“We all know that hospitals are understaffed. This results in serious injustice and prejudice against members of the surrounding communities. It also means that the said community members do not get the quality healthcare that they deserve. Lawyers are not involved there at all,” Notyesi said.

“Communities consult with us after stints in hospital arising from gross negligence. Lawyers simply represent the discontented. Instead of addressing systems that are failing, they are blaming lawyers. They are shifting the blame instead of identifying the problem and fixing it,” he added.

Notyesi said attorneys did not charge more than 25% of the capital award.

Last year, the Dispatch reported that the health department’s negligence bill had skyrocketed to R14-billion. — siyat@dispatch.co.za