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FACULTY OF health scienceS
Paediatric Anaesthesia
Head of Unit: Associate Professor Jenny Thomas
The Unit of Paediatric Anaesthesia, a division of the
Department of Anaesthesia (UCT) andSCAH, is responsible
for the provision anaesthesia for all children, infants
and neonates undergoing surgery or procedures at the
Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital (RCWMCH)
and Maitland Children’s Home. This department also
provides acute, chronic and palliative care services for
the children at this hospital, as well as providing input into
the Paediatric Intensive Care services. The Paediatric Pain
and Palliative Care Unit /Team is a multidisciplinary group
which falls under Paediatric Anaesthesia, run by Professor
Thomas, with Dr Michelle Meiring (a Palliative Care
specialist paediatrician), SRN Angeline Schrikker (nurse
practitioner in pain) and a number of other volunteers
from nursing, child and family psychotherapists, child life
specialists, aroma therapy, physiotherapy, art therapy and
palliative care.
Staffing
The head of this clinical unit is Associate Professor
Jenny Thomas, with the following fulltime paediatric
anaesthesia specialists: Dr Graeme Wilson, Dr Rebecca
Gary, Dr Karmen Kemp and Dr Kotie Bester. The other
three specialists rotate on a regular basis between GSH,
Maitland Cottage and RCWMCH. There are 6 positions
for registrars in training at RCWMCH. A further registrar
rotates through intensive care against a paediatrics post.
In addition to teaching, training and lecturing at both
under graduate and post graduate levels members of the
department have lectured nationally and internationally.
They also teach and train members of other disciplines
which include paramedics, nurses, surgeons, pharmacists,
emergency medicine trainees and family medicine
practitioners. Professor Thomas and Dr Myburgh also
teach on APLS courses.
Permanent and long term contract staff
Associate Professor
1
Specialists
7
Registrars
6
Total
14
Research fields and staff
Associate Professor Jenny Thomas
Acute and chronic pain management, palliative care,
analgesia and sedation, burns, conjoined twins, paediatric
trauma and orthopaediacs, HIV and Aids, transplantation,
neonatal anaesthesia and pain,general paediatric surgery,
peri-operative behavioural disorders, paediatric peri-
operative audits of deaths and critical adverse event
reporting.
Graeme Wilson
Paediatric pharmacology, total intravenous anaesthesia
techniques, target-controlled anaesthesia, cardiothoracic
anaesthesia.
Rebecca Gray
Transfusion medicine, vascular access, premature infants,
ultrasound application, cardiacs, general paediatric
surgery and burns.
Karmen Kemp
Cardiac anaesthesia,childhood malignancies, teaching.
Kotie Bester
Ultrasound and echocardiography applications in
paediatric anaesthesia, modalities for analgesia and
sedation, interventional radiology and MRI.
A number of paediatric anaesthetists do sessions at
RCWMCH, and these include Dr Owen Hodges (research in
Burns blood transfusion techniques), Tony Butt, Geraldine
Lloyd, David Kirsch, Hanlie van Dyk, and Rosalie Spies.
Contact Details
Postal address: Division of Paediatric Anaesthesia, School
of Child and Adolescent Health, University of Cape Town,
Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, Klipfontein
Road, Rondebosch, 7700, Cape Town, South Africa.
Tel: +27 21 6585003 / 6585105
Fax: +27 21 6585183
Web: http://web.uct.ac.za/depts/ich
UCT General enquiries: +27 21 650 9111
UCT web: http://www.uct.ac.za
Paediatric Dermatology
Head of Unit: Associate Professor N. Khumalo
The division’s only consultant runs the clinical service and
is assisted by dermatology registrars from Groote Schuur
Hospital for two clinics a week.
Professor Nonhlanhla Khumalo is NRF-rated and runs the
only academic hair research clinic in the country (with
Groote Schuur Hospital’s Dr Ngwanya). Her research
interests include the epidemiology and treatment of hair
and scalp disorders that uniquely affect individuals with
afro-textured hair. Her international collaboration studies
use various research tools - scanning (and transmission)
electron microscopy and amino acid analysis of hair.