FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
08 April 2020

SAMA welcomes release of Limpopo doctors
Association, however, questions ‘spin’ from provincial health department

The South African Medical Association (SAMA) welcomes the release of two doctors from the Modimolle MDR-TB facility Limpopo who were forcibly quarantined there. Dr Claire Olivier and Dr Taryn Williams work at the Mmametlhake Hospital in Mpumalanga but live in Limpopo. They tested positive for COVID-19 on 29 March and self-isolated at their home. However, Limpopo Health MEC, Dr Phophi Ramathuba, insisted they be removed from their home and moved to the MDR-TB facility on 2 April.

Drs Williams and Olivier are both SAMA members employed in the public sector and sought guidance, advice, and support from SAMA at the time of their interaction with the Limpopo Department of Health.

“We are delighted that these two doctors – who self-isolated according to regulations when they tested positive for COVID-19 – are now allowed to return home. However, we remain concerned about the manner in which they were treated initially, especially considering they strictly followed NICD and national government regulations once they tested positive,” says Dr Angelique Coetzee, Chairperson of SAMA.

Dr Coetzee says the treatment of these doctors will have far-reaching consequences on other doctors who will be reluctant to be tested for fear of similar treatment if they are positive for COVID-19.

“Another issue is that valuable resources – which are already scarce and in high demand – have been utilised on keeping these two doctors in isolation instead of being used on other more vulnerable people,” says Dr Coetzee.

She says it is also concerning that the MEC decided not to listen to the objections of the medical profession to the forced isolation of the doctors and rather decided to continue with this heavy-handed course of action.

With the assistance of SAMA the doctors challenged the forced relocation in court. The Limpopo High Court ordered that legal representatives for the doctors, and for the MEC, reach a settlement before the matter proceeded further. A settlement agreement was reached on Tuesday, 7 April in terms of which the doctors would be released.

However, subsequent to this agreement, the doctors tested negative for COVID-19. This is an important fact because the MEC, through a press release from her office, is now noting this as the reason for the two doctors’ release from the facility.
“This is a disingenuous move clearly aimed at framing the release of Drs Olivier and Williams as a medical issue because of their negative tests. However, the pair had to be released from the facility because of a court order, not because they have since tested negative,” says Dr Coetzee.

A court order for costs in the matter is to be determined at a future date. SAMA will contest this because it does not believe the doctors should have been moved from their home to the Modimolle facility in the first place.

“The decision to take these two doctors away from self-isolation at their home to another facility was an incorrect one to begin with. It remains our view that the MEC and the provincial health department erred in making this decision, and should instead have allowed the doctors to remain where they were. However, the approach towards them necessitated intervention which unfortunately required the doctors and us to turn to the courts for relief,” notes Dr Coetzee.

The settlement which was reached, and the ensuring directive that the doctors should be released, were steps taken before their negative test results were made known. As such the test results have no bearing on the fact that they could leave the Modimolle facility. This, SAMA believes prevents any cost order for legal costs being made against them or the doctors.

“It is quite clear that any costs for this unfortunate episode must be carried by the provincial department of health and not the doctors who were trying to protect their interests against an unjust decision. These doctors were forcefully taken from their home against national government protocols and should not now have to pay because they were protecting their rights,” says Dr Coetzee.

In response to their release Dr Olivier and Dr Williams thanked SAMA for their assistance during this time, saying they believed SAMA’s intervention played a big role in the positive outcome for them.

"We needed someone we could rely on to help us through what was happening and you (SAMA) were there from the start. We are grateful for your input and legal assistance; we couldn’t have reached this outcome without you,” the doctors said in a joint communication to SAMA.

SAMA says it is important for the Department of Health to provide clear guidelines for self-isolation for doctors who have tested positive for COVID-19 to avoid a repeat of what happened in Limpopo.

 

[ENDS]
Notes to Editors
About SAMA
The South African Medical Association was formally constituted on 21 May 1998 as a unification of a variety of doctors’ groups that had represented a diversity of interests. SAMA is a non-statutory, professional association for public, and private sector medical practitioners. SAMA is a voluntary membership association, existing to serve the best interests and needs of its members in any and all healthcare related matter

Contact:
Acting Head of PR & Communications
Mr Vernon Kinnear
084 511 0484
Email: vernonk@samedical.org

Spokesperson 1
Chairperson: SAMA
Dr A Coetzee
082 379 8118
Email: dr.coetzee@worldonline.co.za

Spokesperson 2
Vice-Chairperson: SAMA
Dr M Mzukwa
076 382 8152
Email: mzukwam@gmail.com

 

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