This as the department is preparing for a media briefing to address some of this medical negligence claims against the department. For years now the department has been inundated with claims costing the department millions of rands. The departmental spokesperson, Tebogo Lekgethwane, in a statement says since becoming the MEC in December 2018, Madoda Sambatha has scrutinised the problems in the department. He says Sambatha has been hell-bent on holding managers accountable and providing solutions to health care service delivery.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the province earlier said it will write to Sambatha, requesting that he conducts an in-depth review of the province’s public health system and establish a turn-around strategy to address the escalating operational challenges that the Department faces. The party's Gavin Edwards said this follows revelations that the department allegedly faces medical malpractice claims amounting to R4 billion, with an additional 500 cases currently under investigation. Gavin further said the number of medical malpractice cases in the province increased from a mere 53 in 2016 to a staggering 500 cases in 2019. "North West public hospitals and clinics are severely understaffed and under-resourced, patients are forced to wait long hours to see doctors while some are forced to sleep on the floor and medicine shortages are common," Edwards further said.

The former MEC for Health in the province, Magome Masike, in 2018 said the intervention plans and strategies to tackle and reduce cases of medical negligence were beginning to bear fruits. Masike said a comparative analysis of the cases from 2017 validated this statement. He said a total number of new cases registered between January and June 2017 was 46 with a total of R378 868 540 claimed. "Compared to the same time, January to June 2018 there is a total of 37 claims and the amount claimed comes to R147 673 733 which is a sharp decline," said Masike.

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