4097 patients wait for surgery at George Mukhari Hospital

19 October 2019

4097 patients are on the waiting lists for surgery at the George Mukhari Hospital in north west Gauteng, some of whom will wait as long as 5 years for their operation.

This information is disclosed by Gauteng Health MEC Bandile Masuku in a written reply to my questions in the Gauteng Legislature.

The worst waiting time is for hip and knee surgery - 558 patients will wait from 4 weeks if it is urgent, otherwise up to five years. This means that a newly diagnosed patient could be given a date in 2024 for his or her surgery!

Other long waiting lists and waiting times are as follows:

- General surgery: 1386 patients waiting from 2 weeks to 1 year;

- Opthalmology: 984 patients waiting from 2 weeks to 2 years;

- Hand and Micro: 240 patients waiting from 3 weeks to 2 years;

- Paediatric surgery: 233 patients waiting from 2 weeks to 36 weeks;

- Neurosurgery: 141 patients waiting from 1 week to 2 years

According to Masuku, reasons for the long waiting times include the following:

Theatre time: Insufficient theatre time;

Personnel: Shortage of anaesthetists and nurses;

Infrastructure challenges - very old hospital, roof leakage, electricity outages, abnormal temperatures;

Shortage of linen;

Shortage of consumables;

Shortage of ICU beds;

Population explosion, many referrals from other provinces and many foreign nationals;

Increasing trauma and violence (trauma unit extremely busy).

This large academic hospital has been sadly neglected even though it serves a large rural population.

It is unconscionable that people can wait in pain for years before they have an operation. Orthopaedics is a particular problem, particularly for elderly women who suffer more than men from osteoporosis.

A dedicated orthopaedic theatre is needed urgently as well as other measures to cut the huge surgery backlog.

Issued by Jack Bloom, DA Gauteng Shadow Health MEC, 19 October 2019