A massive shortages of hospital beds for psychiatric patients in Gauteng is compromising patient care. Gauteng is short of about 2700 psychiatric beds which means that psychiatric patients have to be admitted to general wards where there is no security, thus posing a threat both to themselves and others. This was revealed recently by Gauteng..
Continue reading…
The maddening state of Gauteng’s psychiatric facilities
Posted on Leave a comment
Cost containment and quality healthcare need not be mutually exclusive
Is SA’s healthcare getting better?
Google search adds medical quiz to help diagnose depression.
Posted on Leave a comment
Google has integrated a medially-certified quiz into its search results to help users determine whether they have depression. Users in the United States who search Google for depression or clinical depression will now be greeted with a link labelled “Check if you are clinically depressed”. The link opens an integrated PHQ-9 questionnaire, which helps to..
Continue reading…
Nearly 2 million will lose private healthcare if tax reform happens
Posted on Leave a comment
The government’s plan to ditch medical aid tax credits will have a disastrous effect on already cash-strapped South Africans and force nearly 2 million people onto the over-stretched state health system. If the tax credit is removed, 22% of medical aid users will not be able to afford cover, Stellenbosch economics consultancy Econex warned in..
Continue reading…
Tygerberg Hospital performs its first deep brain stimulation
Posted on Leave a comment
A man with tardive dystonia became the first adult to undergo deep brain stimulation (DBS) at a Western Cape state hospital. His condition drastically improved following the procedure at Tygerberg. Until now it had only been performed on a few children at the Red Cross Children’s Hospital. The dystonia was a side effect of an..
Continue reading…
Edenvale hospitaal erg gevandaliseer deur ontevrede pasiënte
Posted on Leave a comment
Sekere dele van die Sizwe hospitaal in Edenvale is erg beskadig deur ‘n brand wat deur ontevrede pasiënte aangerig is. Die aanleiding daartoe was dat ‘n verpleegster dwelms en drank gekonfiskeer het wat pasiënte ingesmokkel het. Dit het hulle woedend gemaak. Hulle het daarop deur die hospitaal beweeg en enigiets wat breekbaar was, gebreek. Die..
Continue reading…
HPCSA warns against global fee agreements.
Posted on Leave a comment
The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) has urged healthcare practitioners to consult the council before signing any global fee or other financial or clinical arrangement with medical schemes, because these may violate the HPCSA’s ethical rules. Since issuing a media statement in April warning against the practice, the council has been engaging with..
Continue reading…
Robot-aided surgery now available in Eastern Cape Province
Posted on Leave a comment
The first robot-assisted surgeries to treat prostate cancer in the Eastern Cape were performed by Netcare Greenacres urologists Dr Hannes Brummer and Dr Johan Coetzee this week following the installation of the Da Vinci Si robotic surgical system at the hospital. Similar robotic systems have been installed at Netcare hospitals in Cape Town, Johannesburg and..
Continue reading…
Medical software crippled by recent cyber attack
Posted on Leave a comment
Many doctors still can’t use a transcription service made by Nuance Communications Inc. three weeks after the company was hit by a powerful, debilitating computer attack. Hospital systems including Beth Israel Deaconess in Boston and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center said eScription, a Nuance staple product that allows physicians to dictate notes from a..
Continue reading…