Review: An Extremely Disappointing Experience with Dr. Steyn at The Spine Centre Kuils River hospital

<div>Review: An Extremely Disappointing and ********* Experience with Dr. Steyn at The Spine Centre<strong> Kuils River hospital. </strong>After living with chronic spinal pain for over eight years, I had hoped that visiting The Spine Centre would finally offer a path toward meaningful relief and surgical guidance. Instead, what I experienced with Dr. Steyn was not only profoundly unhelpful but also deeply frustrating and, frankly, *********. I was originally referred directly to Dr. Venter at the <strong>Spine Centre in Kuils River</strong> by another surgeon, after having already seen a reputable pain specialist in <strong>Cape Town.</strong> That specialist had given me clarity on my condition and helped manage my pain when I returned to South Africa after years overseas. The next logical step was to consult a surgeon to discuss long-term options and a second opinion on the way forward. However, when I called Dr. Venter’s rooms, I was told I had to first speak with Dr. Steyn. I agreed to a phone call, which seemed promising at first — he invited me to come in for a consultation. From the moment I arrived, the experience took a sharp turn for the worse. Despite clearly seeing that I am South African Indian, Dr. Steyn greeted me in Afrikaans and addressed me as “Vrou Rajah” — an unnecessarily formal and disconnected way to refer to a patient, given the context. It immediately made me feel like he had made assumptions about me before even engaging properly. In the consultation room, he asked me to explain my pain — even though I had already done so in the pre-consult call and provided all my medical reports, MRI scans, and detailed forms. Rather than reviewing or referencing them, he spent the next few minutes complaining about the quality of the MRI, asking where I had it done (N1 City), as though the location somehow invalidated its credibility. I tried once again to explain my ongoing pain, the degeneration in my spine, and that this consultation was specifically to move toward surgical advice, as recommended by my pain specialist. Dr. Steyn seemed uninterested in any of that. At one point, he dismissively told me to “take off that pink thing” — referring to my jacket — in a tone so patronising, it felt like he was speaking to a child rather than a grown woman who had been suffering for years and seeking professional help. It got worse. He outright questioned the conclusions of my pain specialist and, in a condescending tone, asked, “What do you understand from this?” I reminded him that I’m not a specialist — that I rely on expert guidance — and explained that the women in my family have a history of spinal arthritis and degeneration. Instead of acknowledging this, he mocked the relevance of my comment with an arrogant smirk and dismissive follow-up questions asking “what do the women have” and continued speaking in his medical jargon of which maybe he thought I also have a medical degree. I was there in good faith, in pain, hoping for help. Instead, I was interrogated, disrespected, and talked down to. When I finally told him that I was paying for his time and expected a professional, respectful consultation — not arrogance and condescension — he simply sat there with his arms folded, continuing the dismissive attitude. Adding to the sheer unprofessionalism of the experience, Dr. Steyn told me he knows my pain specialist personally — a completely inappropriate and irrelevant remark that bordered on a breach of professional boundaries. Patient-doctor confidentiality exists for a reason, and trying to pull personal connections into a clinical consultation is highly unprofessional and *********. What shocked me most was what happened as I left. After I made it clear that I wouldn’t tolerate being spoken to in such a demeaning way, Dr. Steyn turned to my husband and said, “She has a short fuse.” This is not only defamatory, but absolutely inappropriate behavior for a medical professional. Yes, I was short — not because of my personality — but because I had just endured 30 minutes of being treated with contempt rather than compassion. No one deserves to be belittled, least of all in a healthcare setting. To say this consultation was worthless would be an understatement. It was retraumatising. I left feeling more helpless than when I walked in. Dr. Steyn’s approach was not just unhelpful — it was harmful. In addition, I later received an apology letter from Dr. Steyn via his reception — but even that was filled with medical jargon and lacked any genuine acknowledgment of my concerns. It was clear he hadn’t truly listened from the outset. I had stated clearly that my pain had already been assessed by a qualified pain specialist, and that I was seeking other options/advice as the next step. He disregarded that entirely. Listening is one of the most critical skills a doctor should have — yet it was completely absent in this interaction. There was not word of direction or advise from him while I sat there. All the money I’ve spent over the past eight years — on consultations, MRIs, reports, and expert opinions — clearly meant nothing to him. His dismissal of my pain specialist’s findings recently and his suggestion that they were incorrect only further highlighted his arrogance. I sincerely hope no other patient in pain has to endure what I did. This kind of behavior has no place in healthcare, especially not in a specialised centre where people come seeking relief after years of suffering. I would strongly urge anyone considering The Spine Centre Kuils river — and Dr. Steyn in particular — to proceed with caution.</div>