Jaci Holdsworth-Jenkins

I am currently a permanent locum in the Psychiatry Observation Unit at Eerste River Hospital and have been there since March 2020. Eerste River is a District Hospital which serves the surrounding community of Eerste River, as well as Delft, Driftsands and Forest Heights. As a locum I support two permanent medical officers in their roles in the psychiatry unit, but additionally have also run the unit when they have been on leave for extended periods. Notably, over December 2020, during a COVID surge while many healthcare workers were on annual leave, as well as during an extremely busy March, April and May 2021 when the hospital was at 113% capacity. During this most recent busy period, I was responsible for on average 65 acutely psychotic patients daily, with multiple admissions, transfers and discharges required daily to keep the system moving as well as the time consuming workload of Mental healthcare forms and patient listings. At times crisis management was required. The hospital also took patients from outside their drainage area to alleviate the burden on Karl Bremer Hospital.

I have come to know community members and have derived much job satisfaction from the working relationships and friendships formed with the nursing healthcare workers at Eerste River, sharing personal experiences and providing deep rooted support during the difficult times of 2020. Significant clinical experience has been gained by working with the undifferentiated psychiatric patient, ensuring thorough medical evaluation and workup of patients, as well as handling medical emergencies within the ward and often transferring patients to medicine for further management after medical conditions for psychosis have been detected. Working in the Psychiatry outpatient department has added another layer of experience and brought with it the need for increased psychotherapy skills, in particular DBT skills.

After leaving school I worked on a Kibbutz in Israel as a banana farmer, and had the prestigious honour of being the only volunteer member to have a panga to chop and prune banana trees with. I completed a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Information Technology and Business Analysis. I also did Psychology I and Social Anthropology I as additional subjects during this degree. After studying I travelled extensively internationally. I spent a cold European winter living in a campervan, parking outside prestigious buildings such as the opera house in Vienna, as well as mastering the skill of playing Craps in casinos around Europe. In the USA my husband and I camped throughout the country, while driving a Cadillac with New York plates. We then worked in Vancouver, Canada for 9 months at Simon Fraser University. When we returned to South Africa, we started a small Information Technology company which consulted to various South African banks and telcos, doing software development and database administration. At this time I acquired my Commercial Pilot's License, as well as an Instrument Rating in aviation, and we flew extensively throughout Southern Africa in light aircraft. After having my precious children, I left the corporate world, to spend more time with them while they were babies. I opened 2 small shops: Tinsel Jewellery and Love Books in Melville, Johannesburg.

Now, in my spare time I wildly drive my 3 teenage children all over the southern peninsula, dodging anti-vaxers, walking my yappy dogs on the beach, hiking up Muizenberg mountain and lobbing my big orange Wawa surfboard at the waves in surfers corner.

1. Dr Sa'ad Lahri, Khayelitsha District Hospital, Emergency Medicine Physician 082 664 2421

2. Dr Michelle Grantham, Khayelitsha District Hospital, Paediatrician 072 078 0959

3. Dr Jeanné Moolman, Khayelitsha District Hospital, District Psychiatrist 082 595 5736

4. Dr Stefanus Serfontein, Clinical Manager, Eerste River Hospital, 084 208 7798