Exploring the Basis for the Increasing Medical Negligence Claims in South Africa

Litigation arising from medical negligence have continued to witness an incremental trajectory in the contemporary South African medical jurisprudence. As the number of claims continue to rise, so also does the financial expense in the form of cost of litigation on the part of the litigants and damages paid by the healthcare personnel and government agencies in successful cases. Such expense, however, palls into oblivion when compared with the reputational damage attendant such negligent conducts on the parts of both the healthcare personnel and the healthcare institutions. On the positive side, however, is that the growing instances of such claims have brought to the fore the need to interrogate the reasons and seek solutions with a view to attaining a more efficient health service delivery system in the country.