Is the healthcare sector harbouring bogus nurses?

  • Annelie Meiring FPNL Member

Abstract

The healthcare sector in South Africa is still facing numerous challenges varying from critical staff shortages, increasing medical litigation and fraudulent healthcare practitioners. During recent months the Health Professionals Council (HPCSA) again reported bogus medical doctors, not only in the private sector but also in the public sector. The HPCSA has reported that over four hundred bogus practitioners were arrested and one hundred and thirty-eight criminal cases were opened (27 August 2017). It is always frightening if we have to deal with a bogus nurse or healthcare practitioner; it is difficult to understand how they managed to bypass our systems, especially in hospitals where numerous control systems are implemented to ensure that all the health professionals are trained and licensed practitioners. The control systems for nurses seem to be more difficult to side-step if compared to medical and other healthcare professionals.
Section
Editorial