HPCSA, Health Professionals Council of South Africs,

Welcome to Name and Shame .Biz - HPCSA

To the President of the HPCSA Leave Dr Wouter Basson alone.

The HPCSA have thousands of outstanding cases registered in your system against doctors in South Africa.

You have the most Incompetent and Corrupt Council, employing a large number of people who have little or no experience in anythingno and dont help the public in need.

The Public from the South African Public, which are tears behind and need to be sorted out before you waste valuable time against a Professional Doctor with one of the best brains in the Country,

Stop wastind time and leave him alone and sort out all the real cases and stop playing policuts.

Signed :

Dr Gatties Gatvol - CEO of Name And Shame

HPCSA: Bogus Doctor fooled system

The Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA) has blamed itself for allowing a bogus neurosurgeon to practise at South African hospitals.

Qualified general practitioner Nyunyi Wambuyi Katumba did not meet the requirements for registration as a neurosurgeon, but was registered with the council, HPCSA president Sam Mokgokong told reporters in Pretoria.

“We are taking the blame on this one. The error lies within us. Dr Katumba cheated on our system,” Mokgokong said.

“He initially applied in 2003 to be certified as a neurosurgeon in this country. He sat for the South African college examinations with other doctors and he failed.”

Katumba, originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, worked in South Africa as a specialist from June 2007.

Mokgokong said false information was submitted to the council in 2007, stating that Katumba had passed the necessary examinations.

He was subsequently registered in public service neurosurgery.

After serving for three years in the public service, and after obtaining South African permanent residence status, Katumba was registered as a specialist independent practice on July 9 last year.

He previously worked in Botswana and Zimbabwe and was fired in both countries.

In South Africa, he worked at the Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital in Soweto and the Steve Biko Academic hospital in Pretoria.

He was fired from both institutions because of incompetence.

“This man was practising in the country after being registered. He had the required certificates to practise that we had given him,” said Mokgokong.

Investigations were underway to determine who supplied the false information on behalf of Katumba.

Mokgokong confirmed that Katumba was a qualified doctor who had worked in the DRC.

No criminal charges had been laid against him, said HPCSA acting registrar Kgosi Letlape.

“We cannot be the ones running to the police and saying we registered this man while we were not supposed to have done so. He was practising in the country with the documents we gave him.”

Katumba had been de-registered and the council was tightening up its systems to introduce double-checking, Mokgokong said.

Two former staff members had been implicated so far.

Qualifications of foreign qualified practitioners employed in the last 10 years would now be verified.

South Africa employs 400 foreign qualified general practitioners and 500 specialist doctors annually.

Sandton Clinic Botch up

Hospitals Rip Off

A CARDIOTHORACIC surgeon and Netcare Milpark Hospital are facing a R4.8 million damages claim from a Zambian businessman who went to hospital for a coronary artery bypass procedure, and had his left lower leg amputated after complications set in.

Shabir Ahmed Limbada is blaming Dr Atulkumar Patel and the staff at Milpark Hospital for the loss of his lower leg. Both the specialist and the hospital are denying any wrong-doing.

They said they treated Limbada with care and skill.

Limbada, 59, who lives in Lusaka, said he suffered from chest pains during 2009 and he was referred by doctors in Zambia to South Africa.

Patel suggested surgery, and Limbada was admitted to Milpark Hospital on May 22, 2009 for a heart bypass.

The bypass was done and the specialist inserted an aortic balloon pump into his groin area, which is connected to a monitor, to assist with his blood circulation.

Limbada was meanwhile admitted to the intensive care unit.

He said the specialist did not give the nursing staff proper instructions and that he was not proactive in giving him the necessary care at the time when he complained about severe pain in his leg. He said things became worse when the balloon pump was removed.
Limbada’s advocate, WP de Waal SC, told the court yesterday that the family would testify that they alerted a nurse about his pain and “she was quite dismissive”, and that Patel was at the Wanderers watching the final of the IPL cricket tournament.

It appeared that the other doctor, who Patel said he was going to ask to look in on Limbada, didn’t turn up.

The brother-in-law phoned Patel again later that night when they noticed the patient’s condition worsening.

Patel, however, assured him that all was in order. The doctor said he had spoken to the nurses, who had told him everything was fine, and he told the family not to worry.

When Limbada’s pain became even worse, he was eventually given morphine.

Patel visited his patient the next morning and diagnosed compartment syndrome, and subsequently had the leg amputated. The nurse who spoke to the specialist that night was expected to testify that he had told her to monitor the leg during the night, which she and the night staff did.

De Waal said Patel was the “captain of the ship” and he should have reacted when the family phoned him about Limbada being in pain. He added this did not exonerate the staff, as they could clearly see the foot was swollen and that it felt cold to the touch.

Pain, he said, was also a clear indication of compartmental syndrome.

Patel, in court papers, said Limbada was stable after the balloon was removed. He admitted that while in ICU the patient developed compromised circulation of the leg and compartment syndrome, which resulted in the amputation. He denied the complications were due to any negligence on his part.

The trial continues.

With medical scheme problems:

The Registrar of Medical Schemes is Patrick Masobe

Telephone: [012] 431 0500

Share call 0861 123 267

Fax: [012] 430 7644

Email: complaints@medicalschemes.com

Private Bag X34, Hatfield 0028

Website: www.medicalschemes.com