Sports rehab clinic for Groote Schuur

UCT's Division of Exercise Science and Sports Medicine and the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery have formally rolled out a public-sector Sports Injury Clinic at Groote Schuur Hospital. The clinic is a first for South Africa. It will cater to a broad sector of the public that has not been able to access or afford sports injury rehabilitation services.

Drs Jeroen Swart and Caroline Dalton, both sports medicine academic staff at UCT's Division of Exercise Science and Sports Medicine, will provide clinical sports medicine services to the public every Wednesday at the Orthopaedic Outpatient Clinic at the hospital. Patient referrals will be accepted via an online referral system on the UCT website.

The clinic will tend to both acute and chronic sports injuries. Patients needing early surgical management will be fast-tracked into subspecialist orthopaedic clinics at Groote Schuur. This has been organised by Dr Michael Held and Professor Stephen Roche.

Swart said that many lesser-privileged patients had been unable to access sports medicine expertise and had been side-lined from physical activity as a result of their injuries. The new weekly clinic will allow these patients to access the care that they could otherwise not afford, he added.

As an additional service, Winelands Radiology, a private group of radiology practices in the Western Cape, will assist patients at the clinic who have limited means by providing a limited number of free MRI scans and reduced rates.

Dr Phatho Zondi, the new chief executive officer of the Sports Science Institute of South Africa, where Swart and Dalton are based, hailed the clinic as a “ground-breaking” development.

Compiled Helen Swingler. Photo Je'nine May.