A CLINIC that is run by a nurse who doesn't have qualifications and was struck off the nursing council's roll was honoured by the North West government.
Assistant nurse Marie Molefe, 40, whose name was erased from the SA Nursing Council's database in January 2011 for failure to pay for her nursing licence runs Health Set Private Clinic in Rustenburg.
It offers a range of health services including delivering of babies, abortions and medical male circumcision which are all done by nurses.
Early this year the provincial health department awarded the two-year-old clinic an accolade for its great efforts.
The clinic receives funding from government and businesspeople, including the Royal Bafokeng.
Molefe, a former employee at Ferncrest Hospital in Rustenburg, is also a director for Batlotle-Basadi Trading Enterprise and Isithunzi Sethu Trading.
But a Sowetan investigation can reveal that the clinic has been operating using dubious means.
According to health regulations, only a qualified doctor can own or run a private clinic. Molefe only studied for a one-year auxiliary nursing course at Netcare Education Gauteng North East in 2005.
Her clinic prescribes medication to patients even though it doesn't have a dispensing licence, which can only be issued to doctors or professional nurses.
The council confirmed this week that Molefe owes R820 in yearly fees and that her qualifications, which are limited to basic work, do not qualify her to run a clinic.
Working without a licence also opens Molefe to criminal cases being opened against her should anything go wrong with a patient.
Molefe's former employees told Sowetan that the clinic often had no medication and sometimes staff would be sent to buy medicine.
Paramedics were sometimes hired to perform abortions and write prescriptions.
Mpho Molefe, a nurse who previously worked at Health Set Private Clinic, quit her job late last year out of frustration.
"I started that clinic with Marie. A lot of things went wrong," she said. "Machines to deliver babies were not being cleaned properly. Marie used my dispensing licence to provide medicine to patients."
She added: "Sometimes we did not even have antibiotics and that posed risks to patients because their bodies would build resistance to the medication."
Jeffrey Marecha, also a former nurse who quit recently over a pay dispute, said Molefe had often asked him to further his training so he could qualify to apply for a dispensing licence that would be used by the clinic.
Gavin Steel, chief director of procurement in the health department, said a dispensing licence was by law not transferrable and should be displayed on the wall.
Sowetan visited recently and did not see any medical dispensing area nor equipment. Two rooms were converted into maternity rooms and patients paid only in cash.
sifilel@sowetan.co.za
For more stories like this one, be sure to buy the Sowetan newspaper from Mondays to Fridays
Dubious nurse runs clinic - but province awards the faculty for great work
A CLINIC that is run by a nurse who doesn't have qualifications and was struck off the nursing council's roll was honoured by the North West government.
Assistant nurse Marie Molefe, 40, whose name was erased from the SA Nursing Council's database in January 2011 for failure to pay for her nursing licence runs Health Set Private Clinic in Rustenburg.
It offers a range of health services including delivering of babies, abortions and medical male circumcision which are all done by nurses.
Early this year the provincial health department awarded the two-year-old clinic an accolade for its great efforts.
The clinic receives funding from government and businesspeople, including the Royal Bafokeng.
Molefe, a former employee at Ferncrest Hospital in Rustenburg, is also a director for Batlotle-Basadi Trading Enterprise and Isithunzi Sethu Trading.
But a Sowetan investigation can reveal that the clinic has been operating using dubious means.
According to health regulations, only a qualified doctor can own or run a private clinic. Molefe only studied for a one-year auxiliary nursing course at Netcare Education Gauteng North East in 2005.
Her clinic prescribes medication to patients even though it doesn't have a dispensing licence, which can only be issued to doctors or professional nurses.
The council confirmed this week that Molefe owes R820 in yearly fees and that her qualifications, which are limited to basic work, do not qualify her to run a clinic.
Working without a licence also opens Molefe to criminal cases being opened against her should anything go wrong with a patient.
Molefe's former employees told Sowetan that the clinic often had no medication and sometimes staff would be sent to buy medicine.
Paramedics were sometimes hired to perform abortions and write prescriptions.
Mpho Molefe, a nurse who previously worked at Health Set Private Clinic, quit her job late last year out of frustration.
"I started that clinic with Marie. A lot of things went wrong," she said. "Machines to deliver babies were not being cleaned properly. Marie used my dispensing licence to provide medicine to patients."
She added: "Sometimes we did not even have antibiotics and that posed risks to patients because their bodies would build resistance to the medication."
Jeffrey Marecha, also a former nurse who quit recently over a pay dispute, said Molefe had often asked him to further his training so he could qualify to apply for a dispensing licence that would be used by the clinic.
Gavin Steel, chief director of procurement in the health department, said a dispensing licence was by law not transferrable and should be displayed on the wall.
Sowetan visited recently and did not see any medical dispensing area nor equipment. Two rooms were converted into maternity rooms and patients paid only in cash.
sifilel@sowetan.co.za
For more stories like this one, be sure to buy the Sowetan newspaper from Mondays to Fridays
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