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. 

“Every hour of power cuts brings the collapse of the public healthcare system closer. Rolling blackouts are worsening surgery backlogs and pushing more people onto the waiting lists.”

He says that the rolling power cuts affect all 37 hospitals in the province, even those exempt from load-shedding or with generators. Mbasa cites Tembisa Hospital as an example, saying 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. 1777 patients will have to 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, maxillofacial, and orthopaedics.

At the Sedibeng district hospital, the 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. 544 patients will have to wait up to three years for hip, joint, and knee surgeries.

Water supply is also linked 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 surrounded by over 200 homes, and connected to the same power grid. 

“They have to apply to Eskom to be provided with a power substation that’s  located in the hospital grounds, which is a long-term process of at least five years. This 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 surgery 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.

In a statement it said ‘clinicians have to strike a balance between elective and lifesaving procedures that cannot wait.’

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. 

Modiba added two years of the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the issue as no elective surgeries were performed.  – Health-e-News