Durban cardiologist says misconduct allegations part of smear campaign

A cardiologist at Life Westville Hospital in Durban has described allegations that he subjected patients to unnecessary medical procedures as a smear campaign meant to tarnish his name and strip him of his medical licence.

Dr Ntando Duze spoke to The Mercury yesterday as he fights to save his professional reputation. This week, he was the subject of an exposé by a TV news programme, with patients accusing him of subjecting them to unnecessary procedures.

He stated that the accusations were motivated by professional jealousy and racism. The allegations are being probed by the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA).

The Mercury is in possession of text messages and an affidavit which indicate that a doctor at the hospital had attempted to solicit a complaint from a patient of Dr Duze to file with the HPCSA. The patient, whose name is known to The Mercury, confirmed that they had received calls from one of the doctor's colleagues, who allegedly wanted him to lay a complaint against the cardiologist.

Dr Duze said the claims against him are manufactured. “They say I put patients through unnecessary procedures. They make these claims without any foundation in the patient’s medical history; some of the people leading this claim are not even cardiologists.

“There is an issue of professional jealousy and racism. The issue of professional harassment stems from the fact that I run a successful clinic. I work very long hours to care for many patients, so my practice is busy. In order to destroy and tarnish my reputation and strip me of my medical licence, my colleagues, some based in that hospital, are making these claims.”

Dr Duze said one of the doctors called one of his patients and asked him to lodge a complaint. “When the patient asked what the complaint was for, this doctor said it did not matter; it would just be another complaint they could take to the HPCSA to take me down and have me stripped of my licence.”

This patient, however, laid a complaint and filed an affidavit, and Dr Duze's colleague was then forced to write a letter apologising to the patient. “We have laid a complaint against this doctor with the police for crimen injuria, and we are going to be pursuing him legally,” Dr Duze added.

He expressed concern about the suspension of his admission rights. “I cannot admit patients; I cannot visit my patients in wards. The hospital is putting me through numerous peer reviews; I understand another is coming up today or this week.

“It is like they are looking for something they could use to say they fired me for this reason. If they no longer want me there, all they must do is say so. What is concerning is that the doctor who is leading this smear campaign against me, despite an affidavit from a patient about his behaviour, has not been suspended.”

The patient who laid a complaint against the other Westville Hospital doctor said the matter came about when he had sought a second opinion after Dr Duze said he would need a double bypass operation. “This had become necessary because the earlier procedure to open the veins in my heart had not been successful, and I now needed an operation. As you can imagine, it was a very scary time in my life. So, in order to make sure that I needed the operation, I had to get a second opinion.”

However, he said the doctor who he went to for a second opinion was more interested in finding out about the first procedure carried out by Dr Duze. “He had no interest in dealing with the second opinion that I had come there to seek. He instead gave my number to another doctor in Westville (the one named by Dr Duze as leading the campaign against him). This doctor, who is not even a cardiologist and in fact had nothing to do with cardiology, started harassing me, telling me that he would send forms to complain and that they could take those to the HPCSA.

“I asked him what the complaint was about; he said it did not matter as long as he filed a complaint. It felt like harassment, and I eventually told him to stop harassing me, and I wrote an affidavit.”

The Mercury has seen conversations where the patient expressed scepticism to this doctor about opening a complaint that was baseless.

In his response, the doctor said: “You can still make a complaint to the HPCSA at least without any particular evidence. If you are willing, the HPCSA is likely to suspend him at least. Would you not consider doing that? You just have to fill in the form and send it to me, and I’ll do the rest,” reads one message.

In the affidavit seen by The Mercury, the patient spells out that the conduct by the doctor was unprofessional and harassing. After the patient filed a complaint, the doctor wrote an apology.

Life Westville Hospital was sent questions about the allegations against Dr Duze and the other doctor. They referred The Mercury to an earlier statement in which Dr Karisha Quarie, Chief Medical Officer at Life Healthcare, said Life Healthcare was made aware of the allegations against Dr Duze when approached by the HPCSA.

“Upon receiving this information, we promptly provided the relevant details and initiated our own internal review process in accordance with our clinical management protocols, which also adhere to strict personal information safety requirements. Our investigation is still ongoing, and as such, we are not in a position to disclose further details at this time. We are committed to taking any necessary actions based on the outcomes of this review.”

The HPCSA had not responded to questions at the time of publication.

THE MERCURY