Friday, August 5, 2011

** South African paramedic convicted of murdering municipal mayor

** Irish considering assigning registration numbers to medics to track misconduct

SOUTH AFRICA NEWS

** A Free State paramedic and his wife have been found guilty of murdering a municipal mayor. That is the word from News 24 (August 4) which said practitioner James Mokgothu and his spouse Caroline, who was also a Naledi city official, were convicted of killing Motlanski Joko Motloi Friday in Bloemfontain. A third man, Senowe Khaka, 28, was previously convicted and sentenced to 21 years in jail. Motloi, who died in 2010, had been involved in scrapping with various officials in the four years preceding his demise.

IRELAND NEWS

** Medics and other health care workers could soon be registered with the government in order to track their performance throughout their careers. The Independent (August 4) said that, at least, is the idea being floated by the watchdog organization Health Information and Quality Authority. According to the newspaper, all providers would be given unique traceable numbers which would allow for easy access to any misconduct history. The proposal is now before Health Minister James Reilley for consideration.