The Eastern Cape MEC for Health yesterday rejected a DA motion to the Provincial Legislature, which proposed measures to reduce elective orthopaedic surgery backlogs in the province, stating that she believed the Department of Health is taking sufficient action.
While her comments are unsurprising, they also expose just how completely out of touch this department is with reality. The facts speak for themselves:
- At Frere Hospital in Buffalo City Metro, the waiting list for elective orthopaedic surgeries in November last year stood at 2001 people, and only 40 surgeries per year are currently taking place.
- At Livingstone Hospital in Gqeberha, the waiting list stands at 1300 people and only 48 can be attended to annually.
- Bedford / Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital complex had 496 patients on the waiting list, but these have allegedly been attended to.
While the Bedford Hospital surgeries are pleasing to note, most of these are trauma patients and not patients on elective surgery waiting lists.
The measures proposed in our motion to reduce backlogs are practical, achievable, and offer solutions.
Repair the theatres that need fixing; settle outstanding debts to suppliers of high-quality, cost-effective implants so they can resume supplying the department; ensure that earmarked regional and district hospitals have adequate orthopaedic capabilities to decentralise surgeries; balance the surgical workload between triaged trauma and elective surgery patients; and finally, develop a time-bound, fully funded plan for surgery marathons and submit it to the Health Portfolio Committee.
The feeble response of the ANC in rejecting this motion, claiming that they are doing enough to address the shocking backlogs, would surely mean that the backlog is shrinking. Instead, it continues to climb.
The uncaring Health Department in this province would rather bury its head in the sand and pretend it is doing a good job than open its eyes and see that it is burying its citizens instead.
The DA will continue to fight for all patients on elective orthopaedic surgery lists. Every individual in this province deserves to live a meaningful life of dignity. There is no dignity in living with constant pain, with no hope of ever working again or regaining mobility and health.