Pretoria - A South African reconstructive surgeon who worked in a hospital in Abu Dhabi has sued the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) for damages after it erroneously told the authorities in that country he was not a registered doctor.
Dr Jacobus (Koos) Scholtz told the court that his licence to practise medicine in that country was revoked and the hospital where he worked had fired him as a result.
The HPCSA in turn admitted that it had erroneously stated that he was not registered as a doctor in South Africa, but denied that Scholtz was fired as a result.
The HPCSA said it sent emails to the health authorities in Abu Dhabi in which it had admitted that it mistakenly said Scholtz was not a registered doctor in SA.
It said by the time the health authorities in that country decided to revoke Scholtz’s licence to practise there, they were aware of the mistake.
Scholtz testified that he had obtained a permanent position as a reconstructive surgeon at the Tawam Hospital in Abu Dhabi, and that the health authorities there agreed to issue him with a licence to practise on the strength of the fact that he was registered in SA.
Scholtz worked at the hospital for a number of years without any problems. But as he was over 60 years, his licence had to be renewed by the authorities there on a yearly basis.
During one of these renewal processes the health authorities in that country needed additional information from the HPCSA regarding Scholtz, which included the date of his medical registration in SA.
The HPCSA replied that Scholtz’s registration as a medical practitioner was revoked because he faced numerous charges of unprofessional conduct relating to some of his patients. It was said that he was found guilty on some counts and not guilty on others.
Scholtz was suspended from working in Abu Dhabi and given a grace period to try to sort out the problems with his registration.
Although the HPCSA informed the health authorities in Abu Dhabi that it had made a mistake as he was still registered here, Scholtz was fired and he had to return to South Africa.
No reasons as to why he was fired were given to the court by the health authorities in that country. The court, in turning down his claim, said there could have been many reasons why he was axed and it would be unfair to speculate that it was because of the faulty information, which was later rectified.
Scholtz earlier made the news following an HPCSA hearing into his alleged professional misconduct relating to the care of patients. The HPCSA at the time ruled that proceedings should be in camera and the media was barred.
Pretoria News