01/11/2025
Changes are coming to Broughton Clinic!
Despite the rumours we keep hearing, the practice has not been sold, nor are the current doctors retiring at the end of the year!
However- we have been working for some time on the recruitment of more doctors who will be here permanently unlike our previous short-term Registrars who were usually only with us for 6-12 month.
The process is lengthy with overseas doctors first needing to be assessed by the GP college to determine their skills and suitability for the role, then they can apply for registration as a doctor in Australia and once this is in place, we can apply for a visa for them to come and work with us. Each of these steps can take 2-6 months and the next step can only commence once the previous step is finalised. We are finally at the visa application stage for the first of our new doctors and getting registration for the second. Once the visa is issued, it will likely still be a month or so for him to get organised to get here, so it will probably be early in 2026 before he will arrive.
Having 2 additional doctors will allow Drs Witford and Edwards to wind back from the many years of dedicated clinic and hospital work as well as covering afterhours on call. Neither is currently intending to retire in the near future but taking more time off to enjoy other aspects of life is definitely on their to-do list.
While both very experienced family doctors, our new colleagues will need our support to discover how we do things here in Australia so we will be backing them up for some time as they find their feet. They will be the future for the clinic and we look forward to the community making them welcome and supporting us all by booking in with our new doctors when they get here.
Both doctors originate from the Democratic Republic of Congo and have trained in South Africa. Dr John will be the first to arrive, and Dr Guyguy (pronounced GeeGee with a hard G) will hopefully be here a few months after.
We will keep you updated as their arrival gets closer!
From Dr John...
Dr. John Ikombele Botomwito is a specialist Family Physician with more than 20 years of medical, academic, and leadership experience in South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
He earned his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Kinshasa in 2003 and later completed a Master of Medicine in Family Medicine at the University of Limpopo in South Africa in 2012. Licensed by the Health Professions Council of South Africa, he has served in key leadership roles, including Head of the Family Medicine Department at Mamelodi Hospital in Pretoria and Head of Health at Kamoa Copper Mine in Kolwezi, DRC, where he oversaw healthcare services for over 10,000 people.
Currently working in the DRC, Dr. Botomwito practices at Kamoa Copper Hospital as a consultant family physician, where he manages chronic diseases, emergencies, minor surgeries, and maternal and child health. He is also a Senior Lecturer in Family Medicine at the University of Pretoria and a published researcher, committed to advancing primary healthcare, teaching, and community health across the field of rural and family medicine.
Dr. John Botomwito will soon join Port Broughton clinic as a general practitioner, bringing with him a deep commitment to providing quality, compassionate healthcare to the community. He aims to help Port Broughton residents lead healthier, more informed lives.
