SIYABONGA SITHOLE
Johannesburg - Embattled Gauteng Health MEC Dr Nomathemba Mokgethi says the department is working hard to reverse the backlogs for surgical procedures at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital.
The Soweto hospital has been plagued by a series of challenges, including the long waiting list of surgeries due to power outages, shortages of beds, bed linen and equipment.
This has resulted in a waiting list of at least 12 000 unattended surgeries across healthcare categories.
In a statement issued by the department on Wednesday, the MEC said the backlog will soon become a thing of the past through various interventions in an effort to speed things up at the country's biggest hospital.
"Various interventions are being used to tackle backlogs. These include dedicated weekend surgeries, an increase in arthroplasty days to three days a week for hip replacement, and other joint surgeries. Further capacity will be available once an additional theatre at Bheki Mlangeni District Hospital is back online," Mokgethi said.
The assurance was given by the MEC during a response to oral questions in the Gauteng Legislature on Bara hospital, following revelations that more 11 194 patients at the hospital were awaiting to undergo surgeries across healthcare categories.
The MEC added that she was working with the Department of Infrastructure and Property Development (DID) which is currently attending to ventilation issues affecting the theatre at Bheki Mlangeni Hospital.
"The neuro-surgery department is providing outreach programmes at lower level within Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital cluster. These are taking place at Thelle Mogoerare Regional Hospital in Ekurhuleni and Leratong Hospital in the West Rand district," she said.
According to the MEC, Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital continues to provide brachytherapy in efforts to reduce prostrate cancer backlogs. She also indicated that some of the backlogs are due to power outages and other infrastructure issues.
"Some of the factors that lead to long waiting times include the shortage of post-operative intensive care units and high care beds, insufficient theatre times, infrastructure issues such as broken autoclaves, power outages and dysfunctional boilers, which the Department of Infrastructure is attending to," she said.