Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital facing backlog of more than 11 000 surgeries

Dennis TSeptember 1, 2022

35 1 minute read

The Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital on Wednesday said it has a backlog of 11 194 patients waiting to undergo surgeries.

Gauteng MEC for Health Dr Nomathemba Mokgethi said the long waiting list is being tackled through various interventions.

Surgery backlog

Mokgethi blamed a shortage of a post-operative intensive care unit and high care unit beds, insufficient theatre times, and infrastructure issues, such as broken autoclaves, power outages, and dysfunctional boilers, for the backlog.

Certain surgeries were also postponed during the Covid-19 pandemic.

MEDIA STATEMENT || BARA HOSPITAL SURGERY BACKLOGS BEING TACKLED THROUGH
VARIOUS INTERVENTIONS pic.twitter.com/J4UQRupF8S

— Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital (@HaniAcademic) August 31, 2022

She said the Department of Infrastructure and Property Management (DID) is currently working on fixing the theatre so minor surgeries can take place.

Referring surgeries to other hospitals

“Various interventions are being used to tackle the backlogs. These include dedicated weekend surgeries, an increase in arthroplasty days to three days a week for hip replacement, and other joint surgeries,” said Mokgethi.

Another effort to scale down the backlog in their surgical department, the hospital will start referring surgeries to other hospitals within its cluster.

“The neurosurgery department is providing outreach programmes at lower level hospitals within the Bara cluster. These are taking place at Thelle Mogoerane Regional Hospital in Ekurhuleni and Leratong Hospital in West Rand District.”

Mokgethi also said more capacity will be available when an additional theatre at Bheki Mlangeni District starts working again.

Adult cataract surgery has the biggest backlog, with 3 394 patients waiting for surgery.

In other news – Prayers pour in for Gogo Maweni

Mzansi reality TV star and sangoma Gogo Maweni is reportedly recovering from surgery performed on her sinuses this week, this is according to TshisaLIVE. Gogo Maweni told the news outlet that because her condition had grown more severe over the years, she had to undergo surgery.