SURGERY BACKLOG
Patients wait three months
The Department of Health currently has a backlog of orthopaedic surgeries and one of the reasons given for the situation is the relaxing of Covid-19 alert levels last year which resulted in an increase in trauma cases that pressurised the system.
A number of complaints were received by patients at the Pietersburg Provincial Hospital who claim to have spent months in the hospital waiting for surgery without being operated on.
One of these is from the family of a six year-old girl from Bochum who has a broken arm and who was transferred from Helen Frans Hospital on 24 February. She has been sitting in the hospital since. On Monday, almost three months later, the family opted to have the girl discharged, saying nothing is being done and nothing is being communicated to them either.
The child’s uncle, Victor Theledi, says it is a travesty that a six-year-old girl should be expected to survive in an environment where she is without her family. “Whenever we spoke to her she cried and said she felt abandoned. If she is just going to sit in a hospital bed, she might as well sit at home.”
Another complaint is that of Thabo Makgeru, who is a patient at the same hospital and who was admitted on 9 February after a transfer from the Seshego Hospital. He currently cannot walk due to multiple fractures in his leg, but says he too has received little assistance.
“I got hurt in February and was admitted to Seshego Hospital where I was told I needed to come here to (Pietersburg) as an emergency patient because they did not have the facilities but there were no beds available here.
Since 9 February, nothing has been done. The doctor sees me every day but I have not been operated on.”
According to Departmental Spokesperson, Neil Shikwambana, there is a general backlog in orthopaedic procedures at the provincial hospital and other facilities. “The Health Department has only one orthopaedic surgeon in Polokwane and therefore, most patients from outside are transferred to Polokwane and Mankweng. Orthopaedic procedures are generally difficult, so due to the inadequate orthopedic specialists, on most days we only see three of four operations being performed.”
He says the department is scheduling a Letsema to address the surgical backlogs and orthopaedic cases.
“The Letsema is scheduled for the end of May and then we will get specialists from outside the province who volunteer their time by conducting operations in our hospitals over a weekend or two,” he concluded.