Exploring patient referral practices of traditional healthcare practitioners in Soshanguve, Gauteng Province, South Africa

Abstract

Introduction: It may be necessary for healthcare professionals to refer patients to other professionals and institutions that are
able to provide the care needed by patients, depending on the severity each case presents, healthcare requirements, and resources
available to offer care. In healthcare generally, patient referral is standard procedure; however, in South Africa, referral patterns
between allopathic and traditional healthcare practitioners are unknown, and this is a problem yet to be addressed.

Objectives: The study objective was to explore patient referral practices from the perspectives of traditional healthcare practitioners
of South Africa.

Methods: A qualitative, exploratory and descriptive design was employed to collect data from 11 traditional healthcare practitioners
who were sampled using snowball sampling. An individual semi structured interview schedule was used to collect data.
Content analysis was used to analyze the data.

Results: Patient referral was common practice in traditional health practices, however not reciprocal between the traditional
and allopathic healthcare. Several indications for patient referral to allopathic healthcare practitioners included management of
chronic conditions amongst others.

Discussion: Patient referral being an important part of healthcare practices should be promoted and regulation and traditional
health practices improved to promote safe referral practices and curb unsafe self-referrals by patients.

Keywords: Referral system; patient referral; traditional healthcare; allopathic healthcare.