Category: Hospitals

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How WhatsApp is Being Used to Train Healthcare Workers

On By ModernMedia
Photo by Thirdman

By Sue Segar

As HIV, TB and other treatments are updated in our public healthcare system, it is critical that healthcare workers and counsellors stay on top of the latest developments. One innovative programme makes use of short lessons delivered over WhatsApp to provide such training.

Over her years working as an information pharmacist at the University of Cape Town’s Medicines Information Centre (MIC), Briony Chisholm noted that many health workers in rural clinics face difficulties accessing training in crucial aspects of their work.

“The lack of easy access to training was in areas where it was really needed, such as the HIV (treatment) guidelines that are constantly being updated,” says Chisholm. “It’s not enough to have training sessions when new guidelines come out; you ideally should be training all the time.”

Drug-drug interactions

At the end of 2019, government introduced new standard first-line HIV treatment that includes an antiretroviral medicine called dolutegravir. As we previously reported, by 2023 around 4.7 million people in South Africa were taking dolutegravir-based treatment.

But the introduction of a new medicine in the public healthcare system, especially at this scale, is rarely straight-forward.

“Dolutegravir is considered as a ‘wonder child’ in ARV treatment, because it provides a high barrier to resistance, is easier to take, and has far fewer side effects than older ARVs. However, it also has interactions with other key drugs, particularly those used for the treatment of TB, diabetes and some anti-epileptic medications,” she says.

Through numerous queries received on the MIC’s National HIV and TB Healthcare Worker Hotline, Chisholm and her colleagues became aware that some healthcare workers were struggling with managing drug interactions. “Some healthcare workers didn’t know about these interactions; others knew about them but not how to deal with them. For example, if a patient is on the TB drug rifampicin, but also needs to take dolutegravir, there’s a need to adjust the dose of dolutegravir. Similarly, adjustments are needed with the diabetes medicine, metformin.”

Chisholm now lives in the Eastern Cape village of Nieu Bethesda. When dolutegravir was introduced, she had just completed her part-time post-graduate Diploma in HIV and TB management through UCT and signed up for her Masters. She and a colleague had, in 2016, done a road trip to about 200 clinics in seven provinces to promote the MIC’s Hotline.

“We saw that most South African healthcare workers are dedicated and keen to learn. You hear all this terrible news about health and corruption, and then you go to these clinics which are ticking along under sometimes difficult conditions, doing amazing work. It’s inspiring!”

A key realisation was the challenges experienced by health workers at these rural clinics to access much-needed training.

“Getting nurses to a central point for training and the need for transport, accommodation and food, as well as having them absent from the clinic for anything between one and five days, is challenging. It’s expensive and involves a great deal of organising,” says Chisholm.

Doing the research

Chisholm then started conducting research on what healthcare workers know about dolutegravir-related drug interactions. Her study, published in 2022, found that about 70 percent of respondents understood that dolutegravir interacts with other drugs, but there were gaps in people’s knowledge of specific interactions and the dosing changes needed to manage those interactions.

The study found that access to guidelines and training were positively associated with knowledge of drug-drug interactions. “There was a clear indication that we needed more accessible training,” Chisholm says.

“The Department of Health offers online training through live webinars, and recordings of these, but they are often one or two hours long. Nurses in busy clinics don’t necessarily have this time to sit through training sessions.”

Testing the efficacy of short training sessions

Chisholm then designed a project to test the efficacy of short training sessions focusing on teaching one or two learning points from the national guidelines in ten to fifteen-minute live lessons using WhatsApp.

“I thought, ‘we’re in a country where not everyone has access to big computer screens, but they all have a cell phone and use WhatsApp – so let’s go as simple as we can’,” she says. “The idea was not to teach the entire set of guidelines but to pick out important parts of them and ensure that if something changes in the guidelines, you get it out to people, quickly.”

Chisholm tested the feasibility of WhatsApp-based microlearning with health workers and counsellors at 50 clinics around Nieu Bethesda. “I ran a range of short case-based lessons on WhatsApp groups and then measured the changes in knowledge and patient care, as well as other factors like uptake, feasibility and accessibility,” she explains.

She found that WhatsApp-based microlearning for healthcare workers is “effective, feasible and well received” and 98 percent of those who participated said they would take part if training sessions were held weekly throughout the year.

While using WhatsApp for medical interactions is not new, Chisholm says a structured syllabus using microlearning for short, punchy sessions is a first.

“This type of learning is equally accessible to a rural clinic as to one in central Hillbrow. We can access people wherever they are. Nobody has to spend money getting anywhere and clinical services are not disrupted. And it doesn’t matter if they’re not in the live session: when they have a moment, they can go into their WhatsApp and read back on the lesson,” she says.

Working with the department of health on 6MMD

Chisholm has been working with the National Department of Health on their Six-Month Multi-Month Dispensing (6MMD) programme. The programme allows people living with HIV who are doing well on treatment and have suppressed viral loads to get a six-month supply of ARVs in one go. This makes life considerably easier for people, since they only need to go to the clinic twice a year; whilst also reducing workloads in the clinics. The programme started in August 2025 and is still being phased in across the country.

“In the pilot phase, the Department of Health did some really good online training and they used our WhatsApp training as an add-on to the longer form training,” says Chisholm.

“We started with one group and ran an eight-week course of 15-minute lessons once a week on WhatsApp. Sessions were case-based and included which patients are eligible for 6MMD, and which patients are not,” she explains. By the end of 2025, around 2 000 healthcare workers had been reached through these sessions.

Lynne Wilkinson, a technical expert with the International AIDS Society which supports the Department of Health on 6MMD, says the microlearning is “a great way to ensure we get to all the clinicians in the country and explain how the 6MMD programme works”.

She adds: “When a new policy comes out, it takes a long time for implementation to be scaled because ground level clinicians aren’t always aware of the changes or don’t have an opportunity to engage with how to implement the changes.”

Daniel Canham, a professional nurse and facility team lead for the NGO, TB HIV Care, at Idutywa Village Community Health Centre in the Eastern Cape, says they’ve found the microlearning sessions for 6MMD very useful. “It’s no secret that the waiting times in clinics are quite extensive, so we are trying to enrol all those qualified for 6MMD as quickly as possible to ease the burden on the clinic,” he says.

“The microlearning on 6MMD has been very helpful. Our staff don’t have to be out of the facility to attend it. They can run their normal activities and attend sessions of ten minutes maximum,” says Canham.

“Our professional nurses joined the WhatsApp microlearning sessions in September last year,” says Faith Maseko, a nurse lead based at Phola Park Clinic in Thokoza in Gauteng who works for the WITS Research Health Institute (RHI). The RHI supports the health department in the management of HIV and employs more than 30 nurses.

“When nurses are trained virtually, some of the information is forgotten, but when you’re on WhatsApp, you can go back and access the information that was shared. The scenarios provided are very useful. If you see a patient, with a similar scenario you can go back and see what was discussed and apply it to your own situation,” she says.

Department of Health backing

Foster Mohale, spokesperson for the National Department of Health, says the WhatsApp-based microlearning has been “an effective low-cost, high-reach supplement to formal 6MMD training”.

He adds: “Training gaps translate directly into service gaps, affecting quality, retention, and progress toward epidemic control. Microlearning addresses this risk by enabling continuous, bite-sized reinforcement of policy and implementation guidance, rather than relying solely on once-off training events. This approach supports frontline healthcare workers in applying 6MMD consistently under real-world service pressures.”

Mohale says evidence from the department’s broader capacitation strategy shows that lifelong, continuous learning, rather than episodic training, is essential for resilient health systems.

“WhatsApp microlearning aligns with this principle by supporting rapid dissemination of updates, peer learning, and sustained mentorship. When integrated with structured models and aligned to national guidelines, it can be effectively applied across HIV, TB, maternal and child health, non-communicable diseases, and health systems strengthening more broadly,” he says.

Republished from Spotlight under a Creative Commons licence.

Read the original article.

Categories : HospitalsTags :

Asymptomatic Colonisers Drive the Spread of Drug-resistant Infections in Hospitals

On By ModernMedia

The computer model improves on traditional methods like contact tracing by inferring asymptomatic carriers in the spread of antibiotic-resistant infections

Photo by Hush Naidoo Jade Photography on Unsplash

A new analytical tool can improve a hospital’s ability to limit the spread of antibiotic-resistant infections over traditional methods like contact tracing, according to a new study led by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications. The method infers the presence of asymptomatic carriers of drug-resistant pathogens in the hospital setting, which are otherwise invisible.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an urgent threat to human health. In 2019, 5 million deaths were associated with an AMR infection globally.

The inference framework developed by Columbia Mailman School researchers is the first to combine several data sources – patient mobility data, clinical culture tests, electronic health records, and whole-genome sequence data – to predict the spread of an AMR infection in the hospital setting. In the study, the researchers used five years of real-world data from a New York City hospital. They focused on carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP), an AMR bacterium with a high mortality rate. The framework draws on the four data sources to model the spread of CRKP infections, from individual to individual over time.

Levels of CRKP colonisation in healthcare facilities vary by location but can reach up to 22 percent of patients. However, hospitals do not routinely screen for CRKP, and surveillance relies on testing patients who are either symptomatic or suspected of coming into contact with symptomatic patients, overlooking asymptomatic colonisers.

“Many antimicrobial-resistant organisms colonise people without causing disease for long periods of time, during which these agents can spread unnoticed to other patients, healthcare workers, and even the general community,” says the study’s first author, Sen Pei, PhD, assistant professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia Mailman School. “Our inference framework better accounts for these hidden carriers.”

The researchers used the inference framework to estimate CRKP infection probabilities despite limited data on infections. They found that combining the four data sources led to more accurate carrier identification. Furthermore, using data simulations, they found that the framework was more successful at preventing the spread of infections after isolating carriers than traditional approaches based on an individual’s time in the hospital, the number of people they came in contact with, and/or whether the people they came in contact with were identified as having infections.

Using the inference model, isolating 1% of patients on the first day of each week (10–13 patients per week) reduces 16% of positive cases and 15% of colonisation; isolating 5% of patients on the first day of each week (50–65 patients per week) reduces 28% of positive cases and 23% of colonisation. For comparison, using contact tracing – a typical approach in clinical settings (ie, screening close contacts of positive patients) – isolating 1% of patients reduces 10% of positive cases and 8% of colonisation; isolating 5 percent of patients reduces 20% of positive cases and 16% of colonisation.

The new study builds on a study in PNAS that introduced a method that more accurately predicts the likelihood that individuals in hospital settings are colonised with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) than existing approaches. The new study is a significant advance over the previous study because it now includes patient-level electronic health records and whole-genome sequence data, which allows more precise identification of silent spreaders. While the inference model improves on traditional methods, it remains challenging to eliminate AMR pathogens in hospitals due to their widespread community circulation, limited hospital surveillance, and high false-negative rates in clinical culture tests. However, there is room for improvement; a future study aims to look at the spread of AMR using ultra-dense sequencing.

Source: Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health

Categories : Environmental Effects HospitalsTags :

Is It Time for the Gloves to Come off?

On By ModernMedia

The indiscriminate use of non-sterile gloves in hospitals and clinics could be doing more harm than good, new research has found.

Photo by Anton on Unsplash

The indiscriminate use of non-sterile gloves in hospitals and clinics is significantly adding to environmental pollution, with little evidence to prove that there are substantial benefits.

New research from Edith Cowan University (ECU) has highlighted the lack of evidenced-based guidelines in the use of non-sterile gloves in healthcare nursing and other medical fields, which could be impacting patient outcomes, healthcare costs, and environmental sustainability in healthcare.

Lead author Dr Natasya Raja Azlan noted while non-sterile gloves are necessary when there is a risk of touching body fluids that could carry viruses or bacteria or hazardous medications, there is no evidence to support the use of gloves for activities like moving patients, feeding, or basic washing or preparing many medications.

In fact, unnecessary glove use can be harmful. Staff are less likely to wash their hands, even though handwashing remains the best way to stop infections spreading. The result can be increased spread of harmful disease between vulnerable patients as well as healthcare staff.

Dr Raja Azlan

Co-author Dr Lesley Andrew added that the abundant use of non-sterile gloves was also contributing to the cost of healthcare, pointing out that one New South Wales hospital’s decision to cut-back on the use of these gloves had saved $155 000 in a single year and reduced medical waste by 8 tonnes.

“The disposal of healthcare products represents 7% of Australia’s national total carbon emissions, only slightly less than the 10% attributed to all road vehicles. Manufacturing these gloves consumes fossil fuels, water, and energy, while their disposal if through incineration can degrade air quality and release harmful chemicals. If sent to landfill, they may leach microparticles and heavy metals into soil and water systems, posing risks to both human health and the environment,” she added.

Dr Raja Azlan noted that, despite non-sterile glove use being a common and routinely taught practice during intravenous antimicrobial preparation and administration, there are currently no evidence-based guidelines or protocols in place to support or standardise this aspect of nursing care.

This lack of evidence-based protocols has resulted in co-author Dr Carol Crevacore calling for a review into this practice.

Source: Edith Cowan University

Categories : HospitalsTags :

GP Researchers Call for Further Improvement of Hospital Discharge Summaries

On By ModernMedia
Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

A new review of existing practice and policy, led by experts at the University of Nottingham, has highlighted the need to improve hospital doctors’ understanding of how GPs operate as ‘expert generalists’ as the key to tackling long-term issues around communication at hospital discharge.

When patients leave hospital, their GP receives a discharge summary to assist with their ongoing care. Missing information can affect the safety and quality of future care that the GP can provide and even lead to avoidable harm. Over 40 million summaries are produced every year in the English NHS, meaning that even small improvements could have significant effects.

Since the mid 2000’s, UK hospitals have been encouraged to use summary templates with standard headings to improve their quality. This has helped in many ways, but research shows that a ‘one-template-fits-all’ approach does not always work well for the GPs who receive and use the summaries.

The development paper, led by Dr Nicholas Boddy in the School of Medicine – and supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research Greater Manchester Patient Safety Research Collaboration (NIHR GM PSRC) – acknowledges that although standard templates have improved discharge summaries, communication needs to become more orientated to the patient’s future care to achieve further progress.

The article, published in the journal Primary Health Care Research & Development this week, describes some of the key foundations for advancements, which need to be built upon with new research and later developed with patients, hospital and community staff.

Dr Boddy, who is a NIHR In-Practice Fellow in the Centre for Academic Primary Care at the University of Nottingham’s School of Medicine, and a practicing GP, said:

Standardised templates can lead to important details being left out, especially for patients with more complex health needs. For example, GPs often need to know not just what happened in hospital, but why certain decisions were made, what the patient’s views were, and how treatments are expected to work in future.”

Dr Nicholas Boddy, School of Medicine

The paper – written with co-authors Anthony Avery, Professor of Primary Health Care in the School of Medicine, and colleagues from the Universities of Hull and Warwick – argues for a more future-focussed, ‘purpose-driven’ approach to writing discharge summaries. This means considering what the summary will be used for and tailoring the content to the patient’s future care.

Dr Boddy adds: “Too little information can put patients at risk, while too much irrelevant detail can also be unhelpful: the GP may have very limited time to read the summary. To find the right balance of information, hospital doctors writing the summaries will need a strong understanding of what GPs (and other community-based clinicians) will want to know, and how generalist care differs from specialist hospital care.

“Improving this understanding can be difficult, and so more feedback, new training sessions, and placements that combine community and hospital work could help. New guidance that helps authors to look beyond the standard headings will also be very important.

“The overall picture shows that standardised templates have improved discharge summaries, but the next step is to encourage communication to become more tailored to the patient’s future care. Hospital teams will need to understand the GP’s perspective better to do this effectively.”

Source: University of Nottingham

Categories : HospitalsTags :

Hospital Association of South Africa Announces New Board of Directors

On By ModernMedia
Photo by Kindel Media

The Hospital Association of South Africa (HASA) has announced the appointment of a new Board of Directors following its Annual General Meeting held on Monday, 6 October 2025, in Sandton.

Gale Shabangu from Mediclinic Southern Africa has been elected Chairperson, succeeding Melanie Da Costa from Netcare. Mark Bishop from Lenmed will serve as Deputy Chairperson.

Shabangu is widely recognised for her leadership in advancing inclusive, values-driven corporate cultures across South Africa’s private sector.

The newly elected Board represents a broad cross-section of the private hospital industry, from day hospitals, large hospital groups and smaller hospital operators, bringing together strategic insight, operational experience to strengthen HASA’s role in advancing the country’s healthcare priorities.

HASA Chief Executive Officer, Dr Dumisani Bomela, welcomed the new Board and extended appreciation to the outgoing Chairperson and Board members, and said: “I am pleased to share that HASA has elected a new Board of Directors for 2025/2026 to help steer the Association through the next phase of its journey. We also wish to extend our sincere gratitude to Melanie Da Costa, our outgoing Chairperson, for her dedicated leadership over many years, and for her invaluable insights and contributions, in particular on health policy matters, during her tenure.”

This new Board marks a moment of renewal for HASA, with several young professionals taking their place at the Board table, ensuring the Association plays an even more constructive role in advancing South Africa’s healthcare reform agenda. The collective expertise and insight of our members will ensure that the private hospital sector continues to be a strong partner in building an inclusive, resilient and high-performing health system.”

The HASA Board for 2025/2026 is as follows:

  • Amrita Raniga
  • Andre Joseph
  • Bert Von Wielligh
  • Biancha Mentoor
  • Charles Vikisi
  • Gale Shabangu (Chairperson)
  • Hendrica Ngoepe
  • Mark Bishop (Deputy Chairperson)
  • Milton Streak
  • Pranthna Sookoo
  • Vishnu Rampartab

Alternate Directors:

  • Ashley Chengadoo
  • Mary-Ann Nabbie
  • Melanie Stander
Categories : General Interest HospitalsTags :

Between Silence and Sirens: Cape Town Trauma Surgeon Dr Deidre McPherson’s Midnight Vigils

On By ModernMedia
Dr Deidre McPherson is one of ten women trauma surgeons in South Africa’s public healthcare sector. (Photo: Discovery Foundation)

By Biénne Huisman

Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town has one of the busiest emergency centres in the Western Cape. As it turns to the public to raise R20 million for the opening of a new emergency centre, Dr Deidre McPherson chats to Spotlight about the hospital’s trauma frontline.

Deep into the night while most of Cape Town is asleep, trauma surgeon Dr Deidre McPherson slips into work scrubs, hitting the highway to Groote Schuur Hospital to save the lives of critically injured patients.

In a boardroom next to the hospital’s Trauma Centre, McPherson details her solitary early-morning drives along the deserted N1 highway to perform life-saving surgery on people hurt in road accidents, gang violence, and other incidents.

She says she is called out from her home in Bellville past midnight at least once or twice a week. “It’s a surreal feeling,” she says. “I mean driving alone while the rest of the world is sleeping. By now, my husband is used to me leaving at weird times and coming back at like 03:00 or 05:00.”

In South Africa, trauma surgery only became a defined sub-speciality in 2008, meaning a formal training pathway for trauma surgery as its own discipline was created. Trauma surgeons are trained to manage multi-system injuries.

McPerson explains: “We are there at the most crucial moments, when life hangs in the balance. For me, there is nothing more rewarding than seeing a patient arrive critically injured, and walk out the hospital three weeks later, back to their lives.”

R20 million to equip new emergency centre

A new state-of-the-art emergency centre, which includes a new trauma centre, is being constructed at Groote Schuur, beside the existing facility. While it is set to open in 2026, hospital executives are turning to the public for R20 million in additional funding to fit the new premises with upgraded equipment.

As part of the fundraising drive, healthcare professionals recently took journalists on a candid tour of the existing facilities. Inside, corridors are clean but with linoleum floors peeling in places; some patients on trolley beds are stationed against walls, indicating wards filled to capacity.

Just beyond a sign that reads “C14 Welcome to Trauma Centre” – with translations in Afrikaans and isiXhosa – McPherson points out the trauma centre’s resuscitation ward, which can hold six intubated patients, she says. One recent admission can be seen on life support.

Increased capacity and privacy for critically injured patients

McPherson says the new facility will have a more spacious assessment or triage area, where staff decide which patients require immediate life-saving care and which can safely wait.

She says the new trauma centre will expand capacity across all three colour-coded wards. The resuscitation ward (red) will increase from six to ten beds. “This is severe trauma, for example [patients involved in] a motor vehicle accident, with head injury, chest injury and fractures needing life support”. The intermediate ward (yellow) will increase from 12 to 16 beds. “This is moderate trauma, for example, [patients with] multiple fractures, but stable”. The minor ward (green) will increase from 12 to 14 beds. “This is minor trauma for example, [patients with] cuts, bites and bruises – the walking wounded”.

Through the public funding drive, they hope to upgrade the computer system, buy more mobile ventilators for critically injured patients, and get a new full-body X-ray machine for rapid imaging in seconds, which McPherson says is “critical for assessing multiple gunshot or high-impact injuries”.

She says that the centre’s current computer has been in use for over 15 years and frequently stalls. “Sandy, our secretary, is on the phone to IT every second week,” McPherson says, adding that it isn’t necessarily dangerous but that it’s very frustrating. “Time matters so much in trauma,” she emphasises.

In addition, there are lighting issues in some of the examination rooms, with doctors occasionally having to do sutures by headlamp or the flashlight on their phone, McPherson says.

A woman in a male dominated field

During our follow-up interview in the boardroom, McPherson’s gestures are soft, framing her words. Her eyes are level, her cadence precise and unaffected. At present, she is one of ten women trauma surgeons in South Africa’s public sector, compared to 22 men. She is the only woman of four trauma surgeons at Groote Schuur’s trauma centre, which is led by Professor Andrew Nicol.

“Surgery has always been male-dominated and even more so sub-specialties like trauma,” says McPherson. “I was discouraged from following this path by colleagues and even family. This is not a career for women, they said. What if I have a family? The hours are so unpredictable. And there are the violent things we see each day…”

But she was determined. For McPherson, it was a calling, a job she loves. “it doesn’t feel like work,” she says.

Road accidents and gang violence

On average, 1000 patients are admitted to Groote Schuur’s trauma centre per month. Critical injuries, particularly road accidents, spike around Easter, on public holidays, on pay day, and in December, she says. She suggests semigration to Cape Town has seen an additional traffic burden and increased road accidents. Another major contributing factor is accidents involving delivery motorcycle drivers.

In addition, August and September this year have seen a marked month-on-month increase in gunshot wounds, McPherson says, with up to three patients with firearm injuries admitted each day.

“On particularly violent days, that number can rise to as many as 10 patients in 24 hours,” she says.

“What is particularly striking is not just the frequency, but the severity. These are not single gunshot wounds – we often see patients who have sustained multiple injuries, sometimes up to 20 bullet wounds at once.”

This echoes damning murder statistics recently quoted in The Guardian, which notes six people aged from 19 to 25 shot dead over two days in Wallacedene and Eikendal, on the Cape Flats.

Responding, McPherson says: “Sadly what is described in The Guardian is not an isolated incident – it is our daily reality. At Groote Schuur Hospital, we feel that burden first-hand. Every day we are treating teenagers and those in their twenties – who should be building their futures, not fighting for their lives – in our resuscitation bays.”

The latest crime statistics from the South African Police Service lists four precincts on the Cape Flats among the country’s five police stations with the highest murder rates. From January to March this year, Delft had 66 murders, Mfuleni had 65, Nyanga had 63, and Philippi East had 59. This is topped only by Inanda in KwaZulu-Natal which had 74 murders. In each of the last three years over 25 000 people were murdered in South Africa.

This constant cycle of violence is devastating and disheartening, she says, particularly “the high rate of recidivism – when patients return again and again with new injuries”.

For McPherson, cases linked to gender-based violence are especially disturbing. “And yet, as trauma surgeons, we try to focus on what we can do in those critical moments: stop the bleeding, repair the injuries, and give our patients a second chance at life.”

Are there any solutions?

Ultimately, McPherson says the real solution to trauma lies “upstream” in prevention.

“This means tackling the drivers of violence: unemployment, poor housing, failing schools, and the lack of opportunities that trap so many young people in cycles of crime and despair. It also means building safer communities through stronger policing, a justice system that works, and meaningful gun control laws to reduce the number of firearms circulating in our neighbourhoods,” she says.

Then there is preventable road accidents.

“Road traffic injuries remain one of the leading causes of admissions to our unit. As we move into the festive season, I want to urge the public to take responsibility for one another: do not drink and drive, wear seatbelts, and slow down on the roads. These are simple actions that can save lives,” she says.

To this end, she points out the importance of South Africa’s “Arrive Alive” campaign which aims to decrease the number of lives lost on the country’s roads through raising public awareness of road safety. Western Cape officials estimate that 139 people died in road accidents in the province between 1 December 2024 and 11 January 2025, with 627 arrests made for drunk driving.

Childhood inspiration

Born in Bellville to parents who worked in education, the eldest of three sisters, McPherson’s interest in medicine started early, fuelled by a weekly booklet series called How My Body Works. “It was out every Friday, I couldn’t wait for it to arrive. These booklets sparked my fascination with biology and science and it has stayed with me ever since. I still have them at home, packed away in a box,” she says.

McPherson matriculated at Settler’s High School in Parow and studied medicine at Stellenbosch University. She completed her internship at Tygerberg Hospital with a community service year in Atlantis, on the West Coast, where she first saw “how daily violence devastates young people”.

A mother to three-year-old twins, a boy and a girl, McPherson scrolls on her phone to her WhatsApp profile picture, which features her children dressed up in tiny doctor’s scrubs – pink and blue – each with a tiny stethoscope. “It was ‘career day’ so we chose outfits that was easy,” she says, smiling.

McPherson, who also counts a PhD on her resume, says she has processed pangs of “mum guilt” for her children. “My husband has been a constant pillar of support,” she says.

“Plus, I am happy and fulfilled, my children are growing up with a happy mother – but yes, it’s a juggling act, sometimes I have to decide which ball to drop. Is it a rubber ball, that will bounce back, or a glass ball that might shatter?”

To relax, she says she likes to read “sappy romantic fiction” like novels by Danielle Steele.

On her future radar? Becoming a full professor.

In the meantime, McPherson says she believes every encounter is an opportunity to make a difference. “We don’t just treat the injuries, we also try to offer support and counselling, hoping that this time might change the trajectory of a life,” she says.

Republished from Spotlight under a Creative Commons licence.

Read the original article.

Categories : HospitalsTags :

Investing in Resilient Recovery: A Vision for 21st-Century Rehabilitation

On By ModernMedia
Photo by Kampus Production on Pexels

As the complexities of global healthcare evolve, the need for collaborative, values-driven investment in health systems has never been more urgent. Rand Mutual Assurance’s (RMA) recent completion of the Welkom Sub-Acute Rehabilitation Hospital upgrade offers more than a modern facility; it stands as a bold statement of intent on how the private sector can participate responsibly as a vehicle of driving universal healthcare coverage that addresses the disparities in access to quality healthcare.

General health inequities in South Africa are well-documented and mirror the persistent income inequalities of an unequal society. Bridging these inequity gaps demands multilateral thinking that transcends siloed programme implementation and that sees rehabilitation as a core component of the healing journey. RMA’s approach exemplifies how a private occupational healthcare insurer can work hand-in-hand with regulators, multi-disciplinary clinical teams and local stakeholders, to construct a shared vision for rehabilitation and wellness.

Hospital upgrade

Established in 2016 to provide basic wound care for injured workers and assisted living for disabled ex-miners (RMA pensioners), the Welkom Sub-Acute Hospital has undergone a major upgrade. It now features:

• Specialist wound management and vocational rehabilitationunits

• Assisted living units for ex-workers injured and/or disabled in the line of duty

• A multidisciplinary clinical team of occupational therapists, physiotherapists, sessional medical officers and urologists• 24-hour nursing support and dedicated case management, and

• An in-house orthotics and prosthetics centre developed via a joint venture.

These enhancements speak to RMA’s core values of serving with care and compassion and its aspirations of being a pioneering social insurer. Patients benefit from seamless care journeys that prioritise functional recovery and long-term wellness. More broadly, the facility serves as a tangible blueprint for what future-focused healthcare investment can achieve in injury and disability management by integrating wound care, rehabilitation and custodial care with vocational reskilling infrastructure, all under one roof.

Inclusive innovation

Innovation, too, must be inclusive. RMA’s willingness to integrate independent joint-venture partners in key clinical areas, such as orthotics and prosthetics, demonstrates how ethical investment can fuel niche specialisations that were previously inaccessible in under-resourced regions. As private and public sectors increasingly intersect, providers who prioritise equitable collaboration will shape the standards for occupational health, post-acute care and sustainable rehabilitation pathways.

The Welkom upgrade also delivered tangible socioeconomic benefits. Construction created temporary jobs for local labourers, artisans and suppliers. As the hospital transitions to full operation, it will sustain roles in clinical services, administration, facilities management and auxiliary support – all drawing from the surrounding community.

Building equitable, resilient healthcare

Crucially, the project demonstrates that ethical healthcare investments need not be confined to metropolitan hubs. In a world where access to healthcare and especially rehabilitation services is driven primarily by affordability more than by need, RMA raises the banner of corporate citizenship by investing in the community where the health-insured population resides, and that mainstream healthcare providers might otherwise overlook, so as to promote health equity goals. By situating a cutting-edge sub-acute hospital in Welkom, Free State, RMA created a ripple effect, attracting specialised talent, strengthening referral networks and inspiring similar initiatives in other underserved areas. This industry influence signals a turning point where sub-acute care is no longer an afterthought but a strategic pillar of resilient health systems.

Looking ahead, RMA remains committed to scaling these principles, thus advocating for policy frameworks that foster public-private collaboration, driving research into cutting-edge rehabilitation modalities and championing community-centred care models. In doing so, it positions itself as a social insurer that is invested in shaping a more equitable, resilient future for South Africa and beyond.

Media enquiries: Gopolang Peme, Group Communications Manager, Rand Mutual Assurance

Author: Dr Tryphine Zulu, Head Healthcare, Rand Mutual Assurance

Categories : Expert Opinion HospitalsTags :

A Lament for South African Healthcare: There Is Another Way

On By ModernMedia

By Dr Dumisani Bomela, Chief Executive Officer of the Hospital Association of South Africa

There’s an old African idiom: “When elephants fight, the grass suffers.” The “elephants”, however, are two interdependent players in healthcare: the government, which is pushing for the National Health Insurance (NHI), and private healthcare providers and funders, who have long raised serious concerns about the initiative.

At the heart of the dispute is whether a single-fund NHI is constitutional, viable, and sustainable. The legal conflict is shaping up to be unlike anything we have seen in this country.

Dr Dumisani Bomela, CEO of HASA

Some legislators argue that the private healthcare sector opposes reform because it is driven by profit and harbours anti-poor sentiments. But no one in the private healthcare sector is opposed to the objectives of the National Health Insurance. We are in favour of healthcare reform that works. There is a crucial difference.

It is a difference dismissed by those determined that only their view matters. The result is that not only has the country spent nearly two decades in a fruitless debate about the NHI, but it appears that those in charge of the healthcare system have prioritised stagnation over progress. When alternatives could have been explored, expert advice considered, research examined, and insights heard, none were.

Instead, constructive dialogue leading to a positive compromise benefiting patients is perceived as a weakness to be denied and overcome. Perspectives have become so entrenched that mutual understanding seems out of reach. Consequently, energy, effort, and resources will be spent in courts rather than on designing solutions.

Meanwhile, the country’s healthcare users are not getting the attention they deserve. South Africans continue to suffer in under-resourced facilities or struggle to afford medical coverage.

Current legislation and regulation already allow for immediate reforms that could lower healthcare costs and ease pressure on the system and public hospitals. We could complete the reform pathway that would support the affordability of medical aid for millions more South Africans, a move that experts and the Health Market Inquiry have recommended.

Through public–private collaboration and innovation, we can upgrade healthcare infrastructure and develop a stronger base of critical healthcare skills, particularly in nursing, ultimately creating jobs and strengthening the national fiscus. These are realistic and achievable solutions that would deliver real progress in the short term and better position us to move more confidently towards universal healthcare coverage.

Our greatest achievement as a nation has been our ability to unite in times of crisis. We can do it again, but only if all role players are meaningfully involved in healthcare reform – including the private sector – and are willing to listen, consider, and compromise with each other to meet the needs of all healthcare users. To begin with, the government must view private healthcare as a strategic partner, a national asset that can offer significant ideas to resolve the national health delivery crisis. Private healthcare, on the other hand, faces challenges, some of which were identified in the Health Market Inquiry, and others that will undoubtedly be raised in the roundtable debates accompanying the collaborative initiatives crucial to strengthening the system.

If we don’t change course, patients waiting in overcrowded facilities will continue to suffer, and families will continue to struggle to afford care. Dedicated doctors and nurses already working under increasingly difficult conditions will face a darkening future, and the entire system will creak more ominously.

The path to reform does not have to be adversarial. We can redesign healthcare together, combining the strengths of both public and private sectors in the spirit of recognising our shared humanity and interdependence. We can still choose collaboration over confrontation, practical solutions over political battles, and progress over passivity.

But we must act now. Time is running out, and every day spent fighting in courtrooms rather than sitting eye to eye and exchanging ideas is another day that South Africans suffer without the healthcare they deserve. The choice is ours: Will we fight each other, or will we fight together for a healthcare system that serves everyone?

Categories : HospitalsTags :

Drug-resistant C. auris Confirmed to Spread Rapidly in European Hospitals

On By ModernMedia
Candida Auris

The latest survey from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the fourth of its kind, confirms that Candidozyma auris (formerly Candida auris) continues to spread quickly across European hospitals, posing a serious threat to patients and healthcare systems. Case numbers are rising, outbreaks are growing in scale, and several countries report ongoing local transmission. The findings highlight the importance of early detection and control of transmission to avoid widespread rapid dissemination.

Candidozyma auris (C. auris) is a fungus that usually spreads within healthcare facilities, is often resistant to antifungal drugs, and can cause severe infections in seriously ill patients. Its ability to persist on different surfaces and medical equipment and to spread between patients makes it particularly challenging to control. Between 2013 and 2023, EU/EEA countries reported over 4 000 cases, with a significant jump to 1 346 cases reported by 18 countries in 2023 alone. Five countries – Spain, Greece, Italy, Romania, and Germany – have accounted for most of the cases over the decade.

“C. auris has spread within only a few years – from isolated cases to becoming widespread in some countries. This shows how rapidly it can establish itself in hospitals,” said Dr Diamantis Plachouras, Head of ECDC’s Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare-Associated Infections Section. “But this is not inevitable,” he added. “Early detection and rapid, coordinated infection control can still prevent further transmission.”

Recent outbreaks have been reported in Cyprus, France and Germany, while Greece, Italy, Romania and Spain have indicated they can no longer distinguish specific outbreaks due to widespread regional or national dissemination. In several of these countries, sustained local transmission has occurred within only a few years after the first documented case, highlighting a critical window for early interventions to stop its spread.

While some countries have showed positive results in limiting C. auris outbreaks, many are facing key gaps. Despite rising case numbers, only 17 of 36 participating countries currently have a national surveillance system in place for C. auris. Only 15 countries have developed specific national infection prevention and control guidance. Laboratory capacity is comparatively stronger, with 29 countries reporting access to a mycology reference or expert laboratory and 23 offering reference testing for hospitals.

While the number of C. auris infections is clearly rising, without systematic surveillance and mandatory reporting, the true scale of the problem is likely under-reported.

ECDC has regularly assessed the epidemiological situation, laboratory capacity and preparedness for C. auris in four surveys since 2018 and published rapid risk assessments including options for infection prevention and control. This is to support Member States in improving their preparedness and early response capacities to prevent or contain C. auris outbreaks in a timely manner and prevent further transmission.

Source: EurekAlert!

Categories : HospitalsTags : 1 Comment

‘We Can’t Save Them Anymore’: Doctors Raise Alarm About Crippling Cuts at Major KZN Hospital

On By ModernMedia
Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital is KwaZulu-Natal’s only public hospital with a functioning cardiac unit. Photo by Hush Naidoo Jade Photography on Unsplash

By Chris Bateman

Doctors have blown the whistle about a crisis at one of KwaZulu-Natal’s most important public hospitals, saying it is functioning far under capacity due to a series of crippling cuts.

The Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital in Durban’s Cato Manor is operating at around 40% below surgical capacity, according to senior doctors there. As one of a small number of central hospitals in South Africa, it provides specialist services unavailable elsewhere in KwaZulu-Natal and serves as a critical hub for training healthcare workers.

Several doctors who work at Albert Luthuli, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, told Spotlight that frozen posts, severely understaffed ICUs, shortages of surgical consumables, and delays in diagnostic tests have combined to drive an austerity-fuelled collapse they say is costing lives.

One doctor said theatre slates – daily surgery schedules – have been cut by as much as 60% compared to pre-pandemic levels. Some described the situation as worse than during COVID-19, when all elective surgeries were cancelled.

“Patients have to wait or be sent home when they can’t get on a theatre list. Then they’re either lost to follow-up or they present ‘in extremis’ later,” said one senior doctor. “Paediatric cases are among the worst. They should be referred on day one, but because of ICU nursing shortages they only get admitted on day four or five – if at all. Often, they’re too ill for our care to be effective.”

Spotlight put these allegations to the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health, but the department had not responded by deadline despite several follow-ups.

Collapsing specialist services

Albert Luthuli is KwaZulu-Natal’s only public hospital with a functioning cardiac unit, according to one of the doctors who spoke to Spotlight. The doctor said the province has just one adult cardiologist in the public sector who sees over 60 patients per day and that cardiac surgeries have dropped from 600 per year to under 300 projected for 2025. By contrast, there are over 30 adult cardiologists working in the private sector in the province.

Anaesthesiology is among the hardest hit areas. According to Spotlight’s sources, eight anaesthetic consultants resigned in the past year, citing burnout and workload. Where nine or ten theatre slates once ran daily, there are now only four or five. Eleven anaesthetists remain to cover 19 theatres.

“I never thought I’d see the day when I wouldn’t want to come in. We are four ICU consultants covering nine beds. ICU needs one nurse per bed, but we’re usually staffed with six or seven nurses in total. Across six ICUs, we’ve got 25 nurses. We pull in ward staff or rely on overtime. You can’t have one nurse running between beds – it spreads infection, mistakes happen. It’s impossible,” one ICU doctor told Spotlight.

Doctors estimate a 45% shortage of qualified ICU nurses. “It’s like airplanes circling, running out of fuel, and crashing before they can land,” one senior doctor said. “Patients deteriorate while waiting for beds or for a theatre list to open.”

Specialist theatre nursing posts have also been cut, compounding the strain.

Registrars squeezed, training undermined

The hospital is meant to offer advanced procedures, experimental treatments, innovative research, and specialist training. Instead, registrars – these are doctors in specialist training – say they are losing out on irreplaceable experience.

Junior registrars are allegedly blocked from logging procedures they need to qualify, because seniors are prioritised to assist with the shrinking pool of operations.

Spotlight has seen a grievance letter from the Anaesthetics Department’s Registrar Representative, addressed to the hospital CEO, medical manager, the SA Society of Anaesthesiologists, and training stakeholders. It warns that the consultant exodus has left registrars running high-risk cases with inadequate supervision, “directly compromising both patient safety and registrar training.”

One senior doctor said theatre usage had more than halved in recent months compared to historical averages. With no new registrar intake and no appointments of departed registrars to consultant posts, it is projected only 10 or 12 permanent consultants will remain for the hospital’s 846 beds – there should be at least 21 consultants. (A registrar becomes a consultant, or qualified specialist, once their training is complete.)

“This is no longer a looming concern, but an active crisis,” the letter warned, threatening patient safety, staff wellbeing, and the integrity of training in KwaZulu-Natal.

“What they broke in six months will take years to fix,” said one registrar.

But some are more positive. Professor Dean Gopalan, Head of Anaesthesiology, Pain Medicine & Critical Care at UKZN’s School of Medicine, said austerity cuts had dented efforts to achieve excellence, but “we remain above required training norms”. He said he was awaiting feedback from the Health Professions Council (HPCSA), which inspected the hospital in July and raised concerns about specialist and nurse shortages. Spotlight followed up with the HPCSA, but had not received a response by the time of publication.

Not all departments are as fortunate. One doctor said it would be “almost impossible” to meet training accreditation standards for cardiology given the patient workload.

Human cost

Doctors say the crisis is most visible in paediatric congenital heart disease cases.

“These children could live normal lives if operated on early. Instead, they wait until they are drastically sick before making the theatre slate – often six months later,” said one doctor. “People forget surgery is also a primary healthcare intervention. Breadwinners sit at home unable to work, while their families suffer.”

In orthopaedics, doctors say the waiting list exceeds 1 300 patients, with the first elective surgery dates only available in March 2028. Before COVID-19, they say the waiting period was seven months.

“Many patients are unable to work due to their conditions and would be able to get back to work if they had their operations,” said one source. “We try prioritising them, but then you put them ahead of others also in severe pain. Complications are already coming in from other hospitals due to unavailable implants and delayed treatments.”

Procurement freeze

Several doctors trace the crisis to a “G77 notice” issued by the KZN Department of Health on 14 November 2024, freezing new purchase orders until April 2025 to “manage accruals” and reduce overspending. Exceptions required approval from head office.

While a less prescriptive circular has since replaced it, procurement remains “extremely difficult”, sources said.

Doctors said the freeze caused months-long delays in acquiring consumables, drugs, and equipment. “We’re almost at the point where we’re only doing emergencies,” said one doctor. “We prioritise cancer patients for chemo or radiation instead of urgently needed surgery. But in cardiac surgery, there’s definite mortality. You can’t avoid it when you can’t do bypasses or valve replacements. Waiting lists are years long.”

One anaesthetist recalled a patient being “closed” mid-operation because a critical consumable was unavailable.

A national problem?

The situation at Albert Luthuli hospital partly reflects a wider national crisis in specialist care. A 2019 government strategy paper noted only 16.5 specialists per 100 000 people overall, with just seven per 100 000 in the public sector, compared to 69 per 100 000 in private.

Professor Eric Buch, CEO of the Colleges of Medicine of SA, said austerity has worsened matters by reducing registrar posts and constricting the pipeline. “Specialist posts are being frozen, impeding access to specialist care and reducing the number of specialists available to train registrars. Even before austerity we had far too few specialists. Some registrars waited up to two years for a post.”

The Albert Luthuli hospital crisis is “not unique”, said Dr Reno Morar, COO of Nelson Mandela University’s Faculty of Health Sciences.

“Equity of access to specialised services simply does not exist,” he said. “Despite the mess, there are pockets of excellence, but there’s no strategic national vision for highly specialised services.”

Health Ombud Professor Taole Mokoena told Spotlight his office had not specifically investigated Albert Luthuli, but said that, “sadly, there are reports not dissimilar from many hospitals in the country,” citing Helen Joseph Hospital in Johannesburg and Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe Hospital in Kimberley.

Doctors at Albert Luthuli hospital have indicated to Spotlight they will lodge a formal complaint with the health Ombud.

Posts advertised

While the KZN Department of Health did not respond to Spotlight’s questions, there are signs of movement. Two days after we requested comment, a circular went out advertising dozens of specialist posts across provincial referral hospitals, including 12 anaesthetics posts, five of them at Albert Luthuli, plus 100 staff nurse and 50 registered nurse posts.

We also understand that an internal briefing of department heads was called for 27 August, 36 hours after Spotlight’s first request for comment.

Doctors, however, remain sceptical.

“Nothing will change for six months as we go through the interview, verification, and induction processes. Why did they take so long to listen? The damage is done. Relief is 18 to 24 months too late,” said one doctor.

Another senior doctor said that with each resignation over the past year, he lined up replacements and pleaded in vain for permission to advertise. “Since posts reopened this week, I know of just one applicant. Do they expect specialists to suddenly appear out of the woodwork?”

The job advertisements are for “far less than what has been lost and needed. And it’s far more than just numbers – it’s skills and experience”, noted another doctor. “It will take years to get back to where we were.”

Despair among staff

Several doctors expressed despair at what they see as a lack of urgency from government.

“It makes me wonder how resources are managed. Local cuts feel disproportionate compared to national ones. It’s disheartening. Some of us are here to make a difference, but we’re starting to lose hope,” one said.

Another added: “If you know there’s light at the end of the tunnel, you can keep going. But when it feels endless, it’s damn hard. We try to hide our disenchantment, but it’s becoming impossible.”

Republished from Spotlight under a Creative Commons licence.

Read the original article.