Rehana Rossouw
DISTRICT surgeons in the Western Cape who still practise racism are to be rooted out of public service in terms of new proposals devised by provincial health authorities.
MEC for health and welfare Ebrahim Rasool this week said district surgeons were one of the first “bugbears” he faced in office. He had been confronted with petitions, sit-ins and delegations where communities complained about poor service.
“There were three recurring themes — racial discrimination where many doctors had Otwo- door’ policies dividing waiting rooms for white and black patients, certificates of indigency which had to be obtained from magistrates when patients could not afford medical services, and financial abuse by
A committee set up by Rasool’s department to investigate the district surgeon service this week recommended that the service be separated into community medical officers and forensic medical officers.
All patients will be referred by community health clinics to district surgeons, which will eliminate the chances of doctors claiming fees for patients they had not examined.
Rasool said since he took office last year, two doctors had been charged with fraud and four were being investigated.
The department would negotiate new contracts with district surgeons for a three-year period, stipulating ongoing training, regular inspections and non-racism.
Contracts would not be renewed or doctors will be in breach of contract if they do not follow the new guidelines. “The proposals have been welcomed by district surgeons as fewer than 10 percent of them are guilty of these offences and they welcomed this opportunity to clear their names,” Rasool said. The Western Cape is the first province to transform its district surgeon service.