Waiting is not an option in the first 1000 days: How a shared approach in Cape Town helps high-risk babies

Posted in: Access to Medicines, Child health, Focus, Healthcare system, Healthcare Workers, InFocus, Latest, Provinces

South Africa’s health department is overhauling its framework for disability services. It prompts an important question: When it comes to Cerebral Palsy – a wide-ranging motor disorder with possible comorbidities – what could a standardised package of baby care look like, especially within an overburdened public health system? Spotlight explores a collaborative approach in Cape Town aimed at optimising development during the critical first 1 000 days of life.

Waiting is not an option in the first 1000 days: How a shared approach in Cape Town helps high-risk babies

Between silence and sirens: Cape Town trauma surgeon Dr Deidre McPherson’s midnight vigils

Posted in: Focus, Healthcare system, Healthcare Workers, InFocus, Latest, Provinces, Spotlight, Western Cape

Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town has one of the busiest emergency centres in the Western Cape. As it turns to the public to raise R20 million for the opening of a new emergency centre, Dr Deidre McPherson chats to Biénne Huisman about the hospital’s trauma frontline.

Between silence and sirens: Cape Town trauma surgeon Dr Deidre McPherson’s midnight vigils

SA has very low organ donation rates – how can we fix it?

Posted in: Access to Medicines, Focus, Healthcare system, Healthcare Workers, InFocus, Latest, Spotlight

Thousands of people in South Africa are waiting for a life-saving organ transplant, but our very low organ donation rates mean that many won’t get a transplant in time. Elri Voigt asks the experts why our donation rates are so low and what can be done about it.

SA has very low organ donation rates – how can we fix it?

How a Cape Town mother gave birth to ‘miracle baby’ who grew outside her womb

Posted in: Child health, Focus, Healthcare system, InFocus, Latest, Provinces, Spotlight, Western Cape

Joshua was safely delivered from Sylvia’s belly instead of her uterus one year ago. Biénne Huisman meets mother and baby, and hears from some of the healthcare professionals involved in the remarkable outcome.

How a Cape Town mother gave birth to ‘miracle baby’ who grew outside her womb

Don’t panic about new SARS-CoV-2 variant, experts say

Posted in: COVID-19, Focus, Healthcare system, InFocus, Latest, Spotlight

COVID-19 has largely dropped out of the headlines, but the virus that causes it is still circulating. Biénne Huisman asks what we should know about a new variant of SARS-CoV-2, the state of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2025, and the lack of access to updated vaccines in South Africa.

Don’t panic about new SARS-CoV-2 variant, experts say

He leads with heart and hustle at Groote Schuur but money is a big problem, says nursing boss

Posted in: Focus, Healthcare system, Healthcare Workers, InFocus, Latest, Provinces, Spotlight, Western Cape

Groote Schuur Hospital’s first male nursing manager, Aghmat Mohamed, reflects on the pressures of nursing in South Africa. Ahead of International Nurses Day and the release of a major global report on the state of nursing, Biénne Huisman chatted to him about his decades on the front lines of healthcare.

He leads with heart and hustle at Groote Schuur but money is a big problem, says nursing boss

Why a major finding on HIV and statins may not be that relevant in SA

Posted in: Access to Medicines, Focus, Healthcare system, HIV/AIDS, InFocus, Latest, Spotlight

One of the biggest stories in HIV in the last year was that a class of medicines called statins could help reduce cardiovascular disease in people living with the virus. In response, treatment guidelines in the United States were quickly updated, but the picture is more complicated in South Africa. Spotlight’s Elri Voigt explores why the case for widespread use of statins by people living with HIV is less compelling in South Africa than in some other countries.

Why a major finding on HIV and statins may not be that relevant in SA

Comfortable with chaos: ‘Head cowboy’ Dr Shaheem de Vries takes charge of Groote Schuur Hospital

Posted in: Focus, Healthcare system, InFocus, Latest, Provinces, Western Cape

From Antarctica to Haiti, to red zones in Cape Town, Dr Shaheem de Vries is accustomed to getting his hands dirty while saving lives. He tells Spotlight’s Biénne Huisman about the new challenges he faces as CEO of Groote Schuur Hospital.

Comfortable with chaos: ‘Head cowboy’ Dr Shaheem de Vries takes charge of Groote Schuur Hospital

Orthopaedic surgery: What is behind SA’s long waiting lists?

Posted in: Eastern Cape, Free State, Healthcare system, Healthcare Workers, KwaZulu-Natal, Latest, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, Provinces, Western Cape

As of last year, there were 3 449 people waiting on orthopaedic surgery in five of South Africa’s nine provinces. Waiting times in these five provinces ranged from two weeks to over five years. In the Eastern Cape, it can take up to ten years for people to get specific types of orthopaedic surgery. Tiyese Jeranji looks at the numbers and unpacks what it means for healthcare workers and people waiting for orthopaedic surgery.

Orthopaedic surgery: What is behind SA’s long waiting lists?

Women in health: “No one taught me how to treat a sick system,” says leading young Professor

Posted in: Healthcare system, Healthcare Workers, Latest, Provinces, Western Cape

In high school, a guidance councillor told Salome Maswime that she would never be accepted at medical school. Today, she is a professor and head of Global Surgery at the University of Cape Town. Biénne Huisman chatted to Maswime about her work on safe surgery, her remarkable career, and being the only black woman in the room.

Women in health: “No one taught me how to treat a sick system,” says leading young Professor

Groote Schuur Hospital clears backlog of 1 500 surgeries

Posted in: COVID-19, Healthcare system, Healthcare Workers, Latest, Provinces, Western Cape

Much of South Africa’s public health sector is plagued by long waiting times for surgery, a situation that was made much worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, an inspiring project at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town has reached its target of slashing its backlog by 1 500 surgeries. Elri Voigt reports.

Groote Schuur Hospital clears backlog of 1 500 surgeries

Rheumatology in SA: Patients pay the price for shortage of specialists

Posted in: Access to Medicines, Healthcare system, Healthcare Workers, Latest

South Africa’s shortage of rheumatologists often results in patients struggling to access the treatment and care they need, especially for public sector patients and people living in rural areas. Elna Schütz asks several local experts about the state of rheumatology in the country.