Emergency Medical Supplies and Training CC (trading as EMS) v Health Professions Council of South Africa and Another

The appellant, Emergency Medical Supplies and Training CC (EMS), was accredited by the Professional Board for Emergency Care Practitioners (a board of the Health Professions Council of South Africa) to offer specified numbers of emergency care training courses (BAA, AEA and later CCA). Over time, EMS conducted training well beyond the scope and number of courses for which it had been accredited and without obtaining further approval. The Board investigated, found deficiencies in facilities, equipment and training standards, and noted extremely poor performance by EMS students in Board-set examinations in November 2006. As a result, the Board withdrew EMS’s accreditation. EMS appealed to the Western Cape High Court under s 20 of the Health Professions Act 56 of 1974, contending that the appeal was a wide appeal allowing consideration of review grounds such as bias and conflict of interest. The High Court dismissed the appeal, and EMS appealed to the Supreme Court of Appeal.

The appeal was dismissed with costs, including the costs of two counsel.

The judgment authoritatively confirms that appeals under s 20 of the Health Professions Act are narrow appeals in the ordinary sense and not review proceedings. It reinforces the distinction in South African law between appeals and reviews in administrative-law contexts and affirms the deference owed by courts to professional regulatory bodies in matters concerning standards of training and competence.