Image by Zapiro. Used without permission.
Working at possibly the best run government hospital in the country, definitely the best hospital in KZN, means that many government "VIPs" bypass the normal pathways normal people have to go through to receive quaternary level health care, and I assume they're not charged the rates you and I would be charged should we end up in a quaternary level government health care facility.
Now is this kind of behaviour unique to politicians or would you and I do exactly the same given half a chance?
I confess: I recently spoke to a specialist at a regional government hospital in order for my grandmother to be seen by him in the specialist clinic, without having to first go to the general clinic at the hospital or wait 4 months for a date to see a specialist. I did, however, wait in line with all the rest of the patients on the morning of her appointment and paid the fee necessary to receive her file. Throughout the morning we spent in the hospital, I avoided mentioning that I was a doctor and tried as much as possible to be just like one of the other patients...
In a resource poor country and in a cash strapped health system, is it wrong to try to get better care for yourself and your family? Does my act of selfishness contribute to the death of a 12 year old boy who dies because the ICU facility at the peripheral hospital he went to was full and he took more than 12 hours to reach the referral hospital?
And the ever difficult questions prevail:
1) Who are politicians in this country serving? The citizens of the country or themselves?
2) Does the fact that someone went into exile to fight for the freedom of the country, entitle that person to an indefinite amount of benefits at the expense of tax payers?
3) Are some citizens more equal than others?
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