Durban - The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has found that some of the medico-legal claims that had been made against the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health were fake, suggesting that crime syndicates were attempting to milk the department.
In a meeting of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) in the KZN Legislature yesterday, the SIU revealed that more than R5 million had been recovered through their investigations into medico-legal claims against the department.
Medico-legal claims, arising from alleged negligence on the part of department staff, have risen to billions of rand over the years.
Scopa member Zinhle Cele, of the ANC, welcomed the investigations by the SIU.
“The work that is being done by the SIU must be commended. In the same vein, the Department of Health must also be urged to pay the SIU for this,” said Cele, noting how the department was set to save in future.
DA Scopa member Francois Rodgers said while the money recovered by the SIU appeared to be a small amount in comparison to the total claims amount, it was a promising start.
He added that he had not been surprised by the submission from the investigations body that some of the claims were the work of syndicates.
“What this illustrates is the need for proper record keeping so that if there is a patient file, we can determine the lawyer that took on the case and the officials involved, because if there is any organised crime at work, there is also an insider,” Rodgers said.
Scopa chairperson Maggie Govender said the revelation by the SIU of fraudulent claims was one of the reasons they had opted to work with them.
She noted how the SIU had also helped departments in recovering money owed to them by individuals ranging from officials to contractors.
“We are very happy with the work that the SIU has done,” said the chairperson.
Earlier this year, Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane indicated that a panel of legal experts had been assembled in order to deal with the medico-legal claims.
She said such an initiative had ensured that savings of R300m had been made with some cases being withdrawn or settled out of court.