My visit to Dr Elmarie Botha for vertigo treatment left my head spinning

On 31 October 2022 I was referred to Dr Elmarie Botha by my GP for treatment / assessment of vertigo. My GP’s offices phoned Dr Botha’s rooms before scheduling an appointment to make sure that they accept my medical aid, and the consultation fee would be covered, and they confirmed same telephonically.

My GP had been to Dr Botha for treatment of vertigo as well the week before and my GP advised that “she had ended up in hospital for 3 days as a result of her vertigo”.

My partner and I arrived at the rooms of Dr Botha, and she has no bedside manners towards patients. She proceeded to ask a few questions without giving any information and to do an exam by making me stand in different positions and furthermore by letting me lie down and tilting my head around. The worst of this was that she was chewing gum with an open mouth right in my face and throughout the entire appointment.

When my mother arrived at the end of the appointment, Dr Botha was extremely rude, obnoxious, and short towards her in a manner of how dare she arrive there at the rooms. When my mother asked if they know if the hospital accepts my medical aid, her response was “There are at least 10 medical aids with 10 sub-plans. How am I supposed to know if they accept your daughter’s medical aid??”. A simple “Unfortunately I’m not sure, however you can find out from the hospital reception” would have sufficed.

Her treatment plan was for me to be admitted to hospital for 3 days (even though the hospital does not accept my medical aid so payment would be out of my personal account) the next day to have scans and extensive of tests done on me so that a neurologist and a forum of doctors can assess what was causing the vertigo, because Dr Botha did not have knowledge about diagnosing me and that by doing her standing and tilting tests she could “eliminate at least 10 causes” and couldn’t tell us what those were either. It was right there that I decided I will not be walking any kind of road with her as an ENT.

I ended up leaving without even a sick note for my work or prescription for any medication to help with the symptoms of vertigo. I had to contact my GP that I had visited earlier and asked her to provide me with a sick note for my work and to prescribe the medication that Dr Botha prescribed her after her hospital stay and tests which was medication for a viral infection and cortisones. So, you need a forum of doctors including a neurologist to tell you have a viral infection. What a joke.

This is a money-making ploy of Dr Botha just to admit patients into hospital without any diagnosis or information, regardless of what questions you may ask. The icing on the cake is I have now received an invoice for an additional payment of R 1 169.80 to settle personally on top of the R850.00 covered by my Medical Aid. I was at her rooms for 30 – 40 minutes tops and they added “Prolonged face-to-face attendance to a patient” to their invoice. There was absolutely no prior communication from their side regarding what would be covered from my medical and that there would be any out-of-pocket payment required from my side. Really unprofessional way to run a practice and blindside ill patients.

Avoid visiting this doctor at all costs.