South African Orthopaedic association

23rd December 2019

Arrest of medical practitioners

Dear colleagues,

·         We are all extremely concerned about the arrest of two of our colleagues and the position taken by the National Prosecuting Authority without consultation with the HPCSA.

·         As President of the SAOA I have been in extensive discussions with the South African Society of Anaesthesiologists (SASA) in this regard and have sent a position statement of support for our colleagues affected by this.

·         This position has been shared with the Federation of South African Surgeons (FOSAS) and I remain in close contact with Dr Lance Lasersohn from SASA.

Our position as a Society:

·         We strongly oppose the actions of the NPA and firmly believe that, despite the current dysfunctional state of the HPCSA and their lack of action with regard to this matter, they remain our official governmental representation.

·         It is unacceptable that the NPA has independently taken action against two independent medical practitioners without consultation with the HPCSA.

·         The fact that at least one of the practitioners is a member in good standing with the HPCSA makes their action even more deplorable.

We must, however not be caught up in the emotional hype that is currently prevailing with regard to this matter.

The following points should be considered:

1.      The SAOA stands firmly in support of our colleagues and believe that the NPA is creating a potentially very dangerous precedent that could have serious repercussions for clinical autonomy in the future.

2.      A position statement was sent out on 15thDecember 2019

3.      Currently there is no involvement of any orthopaedic surgeon in this matter.

4.      We are supporting SASA in their legal process.

5.      We have pledged support to FOSAS and SAMA.

6.      We are not affiliates of the South African Private Practitioners Forum (SAPPF) but agree with their position statement.

7.      In discussion with SASA representatives today, we feel that the following path is appropriate:

a.      We will join all specialist groups in the sending of statements to the NPA, HPCSA and SAMA.

b.      There is a lot of public attention of this matter and we need to hold back on official statements until mid-January.

c.       We plan a combined position statement of all surgical specialties through FOSAS and SASA to be physically signed by all specialty group chairmen.

Please be assured that the SAOA takes this matter very seriously.

However we do need to let the legal process take its course and intervene when appropriate.

Phillip Webster

President,

SAOA