OUR STORY
HOW IT STARTED
This niche concept medical practice was borne 3 weeks before the tragic passing of Professor SS (Cyril) Naidoo to COVID19 in January 2021 . Prof Naidoo was the father of Dr Uvi Naidoo (The Long Covid Centre’s Specialist Paediatrician) who contracted severe COVID-19 in July 2020 himself. Uvi acquired severe Covid again in January 2021 alongside his family. Despite much havoc reigning throughout South Africa (and globally) with the COVID19 delta variant, Uvi and his family saw suffering first hand as medical specialists themselves treating patients but also as his own family watching Uvi struggle for breath each day.
Uvi’s father passed away sadly due to severe Covid-19 on 15 January 2021. He also had to assist managing his mother and sister all admitted to an ICU for severe COVID, the day his dad passed away. His story is true and much more tragic for many more South Africans in our ailing land.
However, the lack of person-centred care is not merely isolated to COVID19 or any nationwide lockdown occurrence. It is a reality that continues to be ignored in modern bedside medical care.
The opening of Long Covid Centre was indeed inspired by the last wishes of the late Prof SS Naidoo but continues to be the passionate quest of his son, Uvi to help ease suffering for many suffering and distressed families. Uvi remains an avid advocate for his patients locally and abroad, but what brings most merit to this new endeavour is that Uvi is still himself a patient. He is currently battling Long Covid, has Chronic Lung Disease but continues to be driven by resilient hope. “There is no grander gift for a clinician to be a patient him/herself. The empathy brought to bedside clinical care is truly humbling ,” says Uvi.
Read of Dr Uvi’s intriguing personal story in health, science and patient-centred empathetic care.
WHY IT MATTERS
There are many great, good and not so good paediatricians/medical specialists in our midst. Unfortunately, and for many people, a typical private medical specialist practice (during this post-COVID 19 era) sparce effort and time is invested to appreciate context of suffering within family.
Hope and empathy (often the best medicine) is lacking these days. There remains a rare and few prized colleagues of a certain ilk who believe that kind bedside manner are cornerstone to treating you and your family. A person or child does not consult a medical specialist to merely report on medical symptoms and subsequently receive a quick prescription.
The role of a healthcare worker is to interpret the patient’s emotional anxiety from ill health and provide support with hopeful reassurance. The COVID19 pandemic with countless deaths, suffering and family strife, has consequently and sadly made us appreciate the value of human contact within systemic calm.
It is a remarkable gift to be a clinician. Our jobs are to interpret and ease the root of suffering and move you toward a state of wellness. Our centre, while being highly internationally linked, has a unique and rare niche contrasting others around. The centre’s leading specialist paediatrician, Dr Uvi Naidoo, holds international expertise in infectious diseases, immunology, and patient advocacy. As mentioned, Dr Uvi’s talent is bolstered in that he is also a patient suffering Long Covid. See links below as he has powerfully and honestly narrated the trail that MDR TB and now Long Covid has opened to try to help as many people as we can. Understanding one’s mortality as a clinician provides great insights into holistic and innovative medicine.
Uvi often describes these experiences as the greatest gifts he has been granted. This clinic pays tribute and follows the legacy and last wishes of his late dad Professor Cyril Naidoo who passed due to COVID19 on the 15th January 2021. Professor Naidoo lived a life in service to mankind and was an internationally renowned family physician.