Netcare approaches Lesotho court over consortium

Netcare has applied to the Lesotho High Court to try to save the floundering public-private partnership it embarked on through a consortium more than a decade ago to run the country's only specialist hospital. The hospital is now plagued by infighting and consumes almost a third of the kingdom's health budget, an investigation by Bhekisisa and the Lesotho Times has revealed. In 2008, the SA hospital group became the only international partner among a group of companies awarded a contract to build and operate what would become the 425-bed Queen Mamohato Memorial Hospital. Also included in the public-private deal with the Lesotho Government were contracts to build a nearby clinic and refurbish three others. Netcare's court bid comes amid claims that the consortium owes it R186m for services provided at the facility. A report on the News24 site notes that the government argues that it got a raw deal out of the public-private partnership and that a lack of services at the specialist hospital forces patients to cross the border to SA for care.