THE head of department of general surgery at Ngwelezana Hospital was placed on ‘precautionary suspension’ last Thursday, leaving a vacuum that effectively puts hundreds of lives at risk.
As the hospital’s only consultant surgeon able to perform and oversee certain complex surgery, this will mean critical delays as patients are sent to other hospitals.
While no reason was given for the suspension of Dr Maheshwar Naidoo – and no charges have been laid – it is understood hospital management is investigating numerous allegations made against him and his department.
The length of the suspension is estimated to last ‘not more than 60 days’, but history shows that such investigations can stretch even into years.
It is believed personality clashes between senior medical staff at the hospital are the root cause of the suspension.
To complicate matters, it is reported the person temporarily taking over Dr Naidoo’s responsibilities – and possibly earmarked as his successor – had been struck off the medical practitioners register while working in Holland.
Copies of newspaper reports damning him for botched operations that led to deaths are freely available on websites, begging the question of how he was able to be registered to practice in South Africa.
Dr Naidoo believed there is an ‘orchestrated conspiracy’ among certain people determined to have him dismissed.
‘Why could they not keep me in my post and maintain service delivery while they proceed with their investigations?
There is no other surgical consultant available at the hospital, other than Dr Naidoo.
No response to an email sent at noon on Tuesday morning to the Acting CEO at Ngwelezana Hospital had been received by the time of going to print.
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