Could security be a “headache” for the Gauteng Health Department after a fake doctor was apprehended?
There is heightened concern over security at Gauteng health-care facilities after yet another bogus “doctor” was nabbed while allegedly trespassing.
The Gauteng Health Department confirmed that a female impostor posing as a doctor was apprehended at the Tembisa Provincial Tertiary Hospital this week.
She was expected to appear in the Tembisa Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.
It is not clear how the women gained access to the facility and this will form part of investigation by the hospital management and police.
The department said the fake doctor was handed over to the police and spent a night in custody. The facility management opened a case at Rabasotho police station.
“Unqualified individuals posing as medical professionals put innocent lives at risk. It is a criminal offence for any person to impersonate health-care professionals and to practise whilst not registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa.
“The matter is under investigation by both the facility management and the police to establish circumstances under which the bogus doctor gained access to the hospital,” said the department’s spokesperson, Motalatale Modiba.
He said the department was continuously strengthening measures at facilities to safeguard the well-being of patients and staff.
“Our employees and the public are urged to be vigilant against impostors who seek to undermine the work of health-care professionals,” he said.
In an interview with Newzroom Afrika on Thursday, Modiba said such impostors had easy access to health-care facilities, saying one could come in pretending to be someone who wants to see a relative or even someone who needs help.
“The good thing is that at the moment, even with this challenge we are faced with, the system is always able to apprehend people and hand them over to the police.
“In this case, when the health-care professionals interacted with this person, it became quite clear that her knowledge was suspicious and that raised the alarm, and employees alerted security. Security asked the person to produce the Health Professions Council of South Africa registration number. They could not,” said Modiba.
He said the department has been working on measures to strengthen security and were looking at measures such as CCTV cameras in a way that they would not intrude on patients’ privacy.
The DA’s shadow Health MEC, Jack Bloom, said there had been a worrying number of incidents.
“Security is not always sufficient or well-trained, so there is a lot of room for improvement in this area,” Bloom said.
This is not the first instance where the department has had to deal with sham medical practitioners.
In February this year, a woman was apprehended at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital after posing as a doctor and requesting a bribe from a patient.
Last year, Matthew Lani was arrested at the Helen Joseph Hospital in Johannesburg after allegedly posing as a medical doctor and making videos for TikTok.
His charges of impersonating a doctor were rescinded by the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court.
Last year, the South African Health Professions Council (HPCSA) revealed arrests of about 124 fake doctors across South Africa. | Additional reporting by IOL
The Star
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