There are currently 32,000 patients on surgery waiting lists in Gauteng’s public hospitals. And the provincial health department says these patients could wait up to five years for certain operations.
Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) Gauteng chairperson, Monwabisi Mbasa, blames this on the ongoing load-shedding. He adds that the rolling power cuts affect all 37 hospitals in the province, even those exempt or with generators. He says Tembisa Hospital is an example of this, as its’ backup generator can take up to 30 minutes to switch on, which causes surgery delays.
Multiple departments affected
Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, one of the exempt facilities, has the largest waiting list of 10 900 patients. Including 1777 patients who will wait four years and five months for hip and knee replacements.
Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital (CMJAH) has a backlog of over 2600 patients, which is attributed to load-shedding, staff shortages and damaged or broken machinery.
The most affected departments at CMH are paediatrics, where he says there are myriads of young children on the surgery waiting list. There’s also a long waiting list for maxillo-facial surgery, knee, hip, spinal and fleet operations.
At the Sedibeng district hospital, the long list runs over 3 000 patients. The most affected areas are cataract-removal surgery, with 2 250 people who will wait up to nine months; urology, with a backlog of 133 patients who must also wait up to nine months. And 544 patients who will wait up to three years for hip, joint, and knee surgeries.
Water supply is also directly intertwined with electricity. When there’s no power, water cannot be pumped efficiently. Maintaining cleanliness, hygiene, and hydration is another challenge. The lack of water has created linen shortages in hospitals, another factor in cancelled operations.
Mbasa says the movement of staff, patients and supplies are also affected because elevators don’t work during load shedding.
Collapsing public health system
“We will see many people succumbing to injuries and a fast-rising death toll. This will be a complete disaster. The impact of the failure of the public health system is growing daily and spreading across facilities. “
Mbasa says separating hospitals from nearby communities to exempt them from power cuts is not as simple as flicking a switch. An example of this is Tembisa hospital. The building is connected to over 200 houses in its surroundings. So affecting the exemption could take up to five years.
“Unfortunately, they still have to apply to Eskom to be provided with a power substation of sorts located in the hospital, which is a long-term process which doesn’t resolve the current challenges we have today.”
The TAC is engaging with the Gauteng Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko to prioritise electricity issues in all public healthcare facilities.
GDoH attempts to tackle backlog
The GDoH says regular departmental theatre marathons, utilisation of cluster hospital theatres and collaborations, filling of critical vacant posts, and minimising disruptions at facilities through contingency plans are some measures implemented to ensure as many procedures as possible can take place.
Surgery backlogs have been ongoing in the public healthcare system says Motalatale Modiba, Gauteng Health Department spokesperson, describing the long waiting lists as a “moving target”.
“There is no one cause or moment. We can say that this problem started because several things can influence backlogs to move from one target to another.”
Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital uses the cluster system and Saturdays to work on the backlog, which is done on a rotational basis. They have started brachytherapy for urology to reduce cancer patient backlogs. Brachytherapy is a form of radiation therapy where a sealed radiation source is placed inside or next to the area requiring treatment
Modiba added two years of the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the issue as no elective surgeries were performed. – Health-e-News
Source:
health-e.org.za
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