IFP horrified by bogus intern doctor in KZN hospitals

20 July 2020

The IFP has learnt with shock and dismay the news of a bogus intern doctor roaming KZN hospital wards and corridors without proper medical qualifications.

A high school dropout working as a ‘fake’ medical intern is said to have worked in various hospitals in the province for the past two years. She professed to have studied for her medical degree at Wits University. According to media reports, Nokwanda Ndlovu, 23, illegally worked in five provincial rural hospitals without being discovered.

This does not only leave a bitter taste but it is also a reflection of the shambolic state of affairs in this embattled department. We then question the competence of the management of the hospitals concerned. For years, patients in various hospitals have complained about shoddy medical care provided by intern doctors, with some patients even left with a lifelong disability. The tragedy about this unfortunate negligence is that lives of unsuspecting patients were subjected to risk and health hazards by the Department of Health, as the high school dropout could not even carry out a simple procedure, like stitching up a wound.

The IFP believes this is negligence of the highest degree and calls for an urgent investigation. We hope for more revelations in this matter, as there is the possibility that there might be other fake doctors in our health system. The IFP believes there is more to this and that the management of the hospitals concerned should be held to account. Human lives were put in danger. How is it possible that a bogus doctor who can't even administer a catheter, and who is unable to issue a prescription, can roam our institutions day-in and day-out, without accountability?

This is such an unfortunate and reckless incident at a time when we are faced with a monstrous pandemic - Covid-19 - where medical expertise is much required.

Issued by Ncamisile Nkwanyana, IFP Spokesperson for Department of Health, 20 July 2020