Doctor has to fight to work in SA

British doctor Mark Stevens wrote to the Health Professions Council of SA in 2009 asking how he could register to work as a gynaecologist in South Africa.

Five years later, he and his lawyers have asked the Pretoria High Court to intervene and speed up the process.

Stevens has 10 years' work experience. He received his specialist qualifications from the Royal College of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians in London in 2008.

The college issues degrees recognised in South Africa.

Stevens spends his day reading and watching surgeons operate to keep himself up to date with the latest medical practice.

"It's frustrating," he said.

His advocate, Carol Steinberg, told the Pretoria High Court yesterday about his client's years of frustration and legal battles with the council.

Stevens said: "I love South Africa; I want to live and work and pay taxes here."

He is a permanent resident and is married to a South African, Bruce Alexander.

Stevens has applied to work in private practice, which the Health Professions' Act allows foreign doctors with recognised qualifications to do.

But in February he was told by the council that a new policy required candidates for private practice accreditation to work for six months in the public sector so that they can "be evaluated".

"It's political bullying. They have been ignoring me for years and now they are trying to force me into the state sector," Stevens said outside court yesterday.

He knows of two foreign doctors who have worked in public hospitals for eight years but have nevertheless not been allowed to work part-time in the private sector.

He argues in court papers that the council's policy is unlawful in that it does not allow foreign doctors with recognised qualifications to apply to be registered to work in either the private or public sector.

"The c ouncil is pushing away foreign doctors instead of actively encouraging them. If I win this case South Africans will not be denied these doctors," he said.

Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi told parliament last year that there was a shortage of gynaecologists.