Medico-Legal

By Dr Pooja Aashan Singh — Emergency Medicine Palliative care is comfort care. It’s what happens when the goal shifts from cure, to living as well as possible for whatever time remains. Pain better controlled. Breathlessness eased. Nausea settled. Difficult conversations held gently, early and with the respect that it deserves. It is legal, and

By Dr Wicus Grové — Emergency Medicine South Africa’s Constitution offers two clear promises: equality and the right to healthcare. These are not just legal clauses, but aspirational commitments to build a society where dignity is shared and fairness is lived out in everyday experience. Section 9 speaks to equality, allowing corrective action to redress

By Mathew Grimbeek — Medico-Legal When something goes wrong in healthcare, the patient must remain the central concern. That is both ethically and legally correct. Patients and families are entitled to honest communication, appropriate support and a proper explanation of what occurred. What is less frequently acknowledged is the impact that an adverse event can

By Mathew Grimbeek — Medico-Legal Healthcare is built on communication. We often think of that communication in terms of consultations, ward rounds, consent discussions, and interactions with patients and colleagues. Yet some of the most important communication in healthcare takes place long after a patient has left the consulting room. It takes place through the

By Mathew Grimbeek — Medico-Legal Healthcare usually measures what it can see. It focuses on clinical competence, experience, protocols, outcomes, and compliance. Yet some of the most significant risks in healthcare develop in a far less visible way. They arise when people notice that something is wrong, or sense that a concern should be raised,

By Dr Wicus Grové — Emergency Medicine ‘In the emergency department, decisions are made in seconds—but their consequences can last a lifetime. Between the urgency to save lives and the limits of the system, clinicians are often forced to navigate a space where law, ethics, and reality do not always align.’ There is a line

By Mathew Grimbeek — Medico-Legal Complaints are part of the reality of modern healthcare and practitioners encounter them regularly. They seldom arise because of a fundamental error in clinical judgment. More often, they surface when a patient feels uncertain, confused, or disconnected from the person providing their care. In a private healthcare environment where practitioners

By Mathew Grimbeek — Medico-Legal Modern healthcare has changed dramatically in a relatively short period of time. Advances in technology, data driven decision making, increasing regulatory oversight, and growing patient expectations have transformed how care is delivered. This transformation is underpinned by an unprecedented expansion in medical research and knowledge. The volume of scientific and

Dr Wicus Grové, Emergency Medicine specialist, explores the profound decision of when to stop resuscitation — and why recognising futility is not failure, but an act of respect.

In 2026, treating consent as a formality is legally indefensible. This medico-legal guide unpacks what valid consent requires under South African law, the HPCSA framework, and the real-world pitfalls that still cause disputes.