Thomas Johnson - Medical Blog

 Auditor-general of South Africa Tsakani Maluleke recently released the results of 2023/24 municipal audits. Only 34 municipalities received a clean audit. Clean audit is an SA public audit definition of: financially unqualified and full compliance with legislation (mainly but not exclusively PFMA, MFMA and Treasury regulations) and auditee's ie client's own performance objectives. Incidentally, on the objectives, the AG takes the client's word for their completion or not; it's a tick-box exercise for AG as most of auditing is.  When Helen "Godzille" Zille was Western Cape premier she railed against audits as being an obstacle to efficient administration (really). She used the example of missing library books in the AG's audit of the WC Library department's financials. This was ignorant nonsense. Government departments, politicians and media get in a froth about "clean audits". When government audit results are released, media and politicians...

Beth Engelbrecht was head of Western Cape Health Department (WCHD) from 2014 to 2020. Her predecessor Craig Househam ran the department from the late 90s. She was succeeded by Keith Cloete from 1 April 2020.  Engelbrecht's departure was a quiet affair. There was a press briefing January 2020 where Cloete was introduced as her successor (at the Western Cape Government's request, she remained to assist him with the COVID pandemic) but no articles in mainstream media about her tenure. The briefing concentrated on Cloete's and department's priorities.  The absence of press coverage was odd because she held a very important post. Compare that to the fulsome articles when Groote Schuur Hospital CEO Bhavna Patel retired in 2024 and about Eastern Cape health head Rolene Wagner's suspension and reinstatement. WCHD's Jonga Magazine (issue 24, 17 March 2020) ran a farewell message from Engelbrecht in which she wished Cloete well and thanked the department, MEC Nomafrench M...

Groote Schuur Hospital, Western Cape Health Department and NPA cover up death of patient Groote Schuur Hospital's CEO Dr Bhavna Patel retired after 13 years. A public health specialist, she's credited with improvements to the hospital. That may be true. But there's a cold, cynical side to Patel that the fulsome news reports (IOL, News24) do not speak about. Patel retired leaving controversy behind that to an extent insulates the hospital and Western Cape Health Department (WCHD) from the fallout. This is the kind of story, in general and what follows in particular, the media do not publish. In 2017 Patel, Trauma Centre head Andrew Nicol, senior medical officer Ahmed Al Sayari, registrar Marcelle Crowther, junior officer (27-year-old) Mikhail Botha, registrar Mohammed Mayet, and WCHD head Beth Engelbrecht were variously accused of assault, culpable homicide, fraud and violations of national and provincial health laws and policies for the death of a 91-year-old patient on Jul...

 This piece is about the racial composition of Groote Schuur Hospital’s patients and staffs. It was determined over numerous visits to its outpatients departments (OPD) and an in-patient ward. Direct observation is the primary method of research data gathering. Groote Schuur is one of Cape Town's two major teaching hospitals, the other is Tygerberg in Bellville. There are secondary facilities in the metro too. Patients are referred to Groote Schuur from all over the city and Western Cape. It is attached to the University of Cape Town's Medical School. It has the full range of specialist departments and facilities. It is the only public hospital in South Africa to have the Da Vinci Robotic Machine, one of a few in the country.  The hospital falls under the Western Cape Health Department (WCHD) whose head is Dr Keith Cloete (2020 to present). Dr Bhavna Patel is CEO and Dr Belinda Jacobs is manager: medical services (COO). The Western Cape has 5.5 million people and Cape Town met...

The US Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v Wade has unleased a deluge of criticism and outrage. Even the UN and world leaders added theirs.  The left and pro-choice groups and individuals are calling it an attack on humanity, women's rights and freedom of choice. Peter Kalmus in The Guardian wrote "the US supreme court made a devastating decision for humanity [sic]". (Typical American hubris to equate America with humanity.) Others say it's an opening round in an American civil war, a war that ironically the far-right has long predicted. The right are jubilant and say it's positive for white rights. Reaction in South Africa is muted. This is because while the decision is momentous to the US, it does not affect the status in SA allowing abortion. Also, international events receive little media attention. So it was by chance that on the John Maytham Show on CapeTalk Thursday June 30 I heard him discuss the ruling with regular guest, Daily Maverick journalist Re...

On Wednesday June 1, Western Cape Health Department's (WCHD) officer Dr Saadiq Kariem was interviewed on CapeTalk about access to chronic medications for WCHD patients. He spoke of two options: collection at a department facility or delivery to their homes. He made it sound so easy. He didn't mention, though, that at many community health clinics aka day hospitals there's a wait, often hours, to simply collect medicines even when clinics already have patients' current scripts on file. I myself tried that - the first time and last time I'd been to a clinic for collection - but left after two hours without even being attended to. I buy my meds which fortunately are not the expensive kind. People cannot take off hours every month merely to collect meds but the poor have no alternative. I gather problems may be clinic specific. On a related matter, during an after hours phone call that weekend, Groote Schuur Hospital's chief operating officer Dr Belinda Jacobs told ...