What is indemnity cover and why do doctors need it?
A surprising number of GPs and specialists are unaware of the myriad ways in which they could fall victim to litigation, often believing this to be confined to the settlement of a negligence finding following an inadvertent patient injury. According to Dr Hlombe Makuluma, Medico-Legal Risk Advisor at EthiQal, a division of Constantia Insurance Company Ltd and the first South African provider of both occurrence-based and claims-made cover to doctors, the risk spreads far wider.
Air Products’ liquid nitrogen and Cryo-Save – storing stem cells, saving lives
Stem cell transplantation is perceived as a major breakthrough in medical history and it has been used in medical procedures for more than 50 years. More than 1 million blood stem cell transplants have been performed across the world and play an important role in the treatment of bone marrow failures, blood disorders, immune deficiencies, blood cancers, metabolic diseases and blood cancers. Cryo-Save South Africa, a family cord blood and cord tissue stem cell bank, has chosen Air Products as a trusted partner to continuously supply them with liquid nitrogen for storing these precious stem cells.
Five golden rules to reduce patient harm or risk
The public and private healthcare sectors are dealing with billions in claims. Risk reduction in medicine or surgery, where mistakes amounting to negligence are an occupational hazard, is the best way of avoiding lengthy legal headaches. Solving the problem on a medico-political level is one thing, but there are five basic measures a practitioner can follow to reduce litigation risks.
Cancer education in vernacular is key to successful diagnosis and treatment
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among South African women of all races – aside from non-melanoma skin cancer – yet many poor and rural women lack access to information and services that could lead to speedy diagnosis and treatment of this disease. This is one of the major challenges South Africa’s healthcare sector must face up to in Breast Cancer Awareness month (October). Far too many breast cancer patients from rural areas feel isolated because they do not have access to medical practitioners who understand their culture or speak their language. The Beat Cancer Foundation (BCF) is a non-profit organisation (NPO) mainly promoting cancer awareness, and advocating for early diagnosis in order to save lives.
Paying homage to SA’s doctors on National Doctors’ Day
South Africa is in the midst of a healthcare crisis. A severely strained public healthcare system and the implications of the Medical Schemes Act and the NHI, could see many of South Africa’s doctors being lost to other professions and countries. EthiQal cares about the future of medical care in South Africa and has a firm belief that doctors should be treasured as national assets. EthiQal is launching the 2019 National Doctors’ Day campaign to acknowledge the critical role doctors play in meeting the healthcare needs of our nation.
Rabies is fatal, but preventable – Be proactive.
Between 5 and 30 human rabies cases are confirmed in South Africa every year and more than 70% of these occur in children and teenagers. The rabies virus is transmitted through the saliva of a rabid animal to other animals or humans. In SA, almost all human rabies cases are related to exposure to an infected domestic dog. Rabies is fatal, but preventable – Be proactive.
Healthcare company partners with Department of Health to provide South Africans with access to innovative healthcare
Roche South Africa has over the course of the last five years delivered innovative healthcare solutions to over 600 000 South Africans. They are strongly committed to partnering with the Department of Health and other funders in order to find ways to overcome the financial, regulatory and legislative challenges faced in South Africa and to ensure that patients in this country can access innovative medicines and products faster than ever before.
Getting to grips with occurrence-based professional indemnity cover
South Africans are becoming increasingly aware of their rights when it comes to medical malpractice, explaining some of the increases in the number and size of claims against doctors. Taking into consideration these trends, it is important that medical practitioners have professional indemnity cover which protects them against legal defence costs and claims for damages for personal injury where allegations of improper professional conduct are levelled against them.
Will NHI worsen SA’s medico-legal nightmare?
With the draft NHI bill silent on an estimated R98 billion in state medico-legal claims, public sector doctors are deeply unsettled by a recent warning from the Gauteng Department of Health, that they could be held liable in their personal capacities for damages claimed as a result of patient harm.
METROGEL V GETS A MAKEOVER
MetroGel V, the preferred choice for the treatment of Bacterial Vaginosis (BV) by South African gynaecologists, has had a facelift. The same trusted product now comes in beautifully designed floral packaging, adding visual appeal to the product and aligning to its therapeutic goal of re-establishing vaginal flora.
Newly forged partnership set to revolutionise disposal of hazardous medical waste in SA
The safe and effective management of healthcare waste emanating from hospitals and other healthcare facilities has long been a matter of grave concern locally and internationally. An all-South African partnership known as Tshenolo Green Solutions (TGS) is combining the use of a new cutting-edge, locally developed on-site waste disposal technology, with a comprehensive logistic approach to medical waste disposal.
Medical industry duty of care: onerous, but necessary
A recent study on the state of medical waste management in rural South Africa has revealed that areas of the country are underprepared to deal with multiple forms of potentially-hazardous materials. If left unchecked, communities could be exposed to hazardous materials that medical facilities have a legal and ethical duty to dispose of according to very stringent regulations.
Why having a good bedside manner is crucial for HCP’s
Think healthcare is all clinical and medical? Not so! Here is why the people-part matters as much as the treatment.
Systems harm patients more than doctors
A culture of “name, blame and shame,” in medicine drastically reduces the potential for system changes to improve patient safety, the Hospital Association of South Africa’s (HASA’s), annual conference was told by a global expert in public health on Tuesday, 27 August.
Professor Michael Marx, of the Heidelberg Institute of Global Health at the University of Heidelberg said it was deeply disturbing for clinicians to realise how much their performance was shaped by the equipment, tasks, environment and organization around them.
Global view of NHI cause for optimism in SA
South Africans are often too introspective and forget to examine how the rest of the world has implemented widely-differing models of universal healthcare, Barry Childs, a nationally-respected healthcare actuary says.
Contrary to popular local belief, a global map of the percentage of the population covered by universal healthcare shows South Africa to be in the high ninety percent, comparing favorably to most of the developed world. The only other country that shines equally in Sub-Saharan Africa is Ghana, he revealed at the recent HASA 2019 Conference.