In July, at the peak of South Africa’s winter, Bafana Ntombela (56) was in the sitting room of his home in Pimville in Soweto. It was very cold Friday morning and he switched on a two-plate stove, which was on the floor, to keep his feet warm.  

Ntombela doesn’t recall what happened next. It seems that he had passed out and fell on the stove, it took a couple of minutes for him to be found. A colleague, and Ntombela’s son were greeted by a smell coming from the sitting room. They found him lying on top of the stove, burning. 

He was rushed to Lillian Ngoyi Community Health Centre where the doctor immediately referred him to Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital. He was burnt from the waist down. One of the nurses at the hospital tells Health-e News that Ntombela suffered burns to 25% of his body surface. 

“I woke up at ward 1 with other patients with burns,” says Ntombela, who has been in the hospital for over a month. 

“I underestimated Bara (hospital) but they surprised me. When I looked at myself I thought I was badly burned but today the wounds are healing and I am feeling a lot better. I can even go to the toilet by myself,” he says. 

Professor Adelin Muganza, head of the burns unit at the hospital says he’s seen many patients with burns as bad as Ntombela’s over the years. 

Muganza says the causes of people getting admitted at the hospital for burns are multiple. These include accidental burns, assault or suicide, car crashes, shack fires, cable theft, illegal electrical connections and acid. More than a thousand children and adults from across the continent are admitted to each year.

This week saw the opening of the Wits Roy McAlpine Burns Unit, which was made possible by a R70 million  donation by the Roy McAlpine Charitable Foundation. The unit has 12 newly equipped ICU beds, monitors, ventilators and dialysis machines.

“The upgrade started two years ago and it has been quite hectic around here. Today we are excited that the project is complete,” says Muganza. 

He explains that burns patients can require several operations for wound recovery. Before the upgrade,  burn victims had to wait for a day to be operated on. But now the operating times will increase and burn victims will not have to wait to be operated on. 

Demand for specialist burns treatment exceeds supply

Muganza says many burns patients are referred from beyond Gauteng and even South Africa which necessitate an urgent expansion. 

According to the Gauteng Health Department since its establishment 33 years ago, the burns unit has admitted over 30 000 patients and performed more than 40 000 burn related surgical procedures. 

MEC Nomantu Nkomo Ralehoko says the upgraded centre will go a long way in ensuring that more burns patients receive the healthcare they deserve. 

“The burns unit serves as a critical referral centre and the ward has a hydro surgery machine that moves dead skin without cutting it. The opening of this new wing is more than just an expansion of physical space, it represents a crucial  step forward in our ability to provide lifesaving world-class care to the hundreds of patients who depend on the public health system,” she says. 

Wits Vice-Chancellor Professor Zeblon Vilakazi says the unit is more than just a building, it represents a unique partnership that will make a lasting impact on the health and well being of the communities. 

“The Wits Roy McAlpine Burns Unit is now one of the leading burns treatment centres in Africa. It is the only public health specialised burns unit in Gauteng serving patients from both rural and urban areas even from beyond our borders. With this state of the art facility, we are not only expanding our capacity to treat more patients but we are enhancing our ability to train skilled professionals in burn care. This unit will be a hub for cutting edge research, driving innovation in burn treatment  and rehabilitation,” he says.

The new wing also boasts a recovery room, new outpatient facility, a rehabilitation space as well as an area to be developed for education, research and a skin substitute laboratory. 

“Burn care will change in this country. We are going to train more students, interns, registras and some specialist doctors across South Africa,” Muganza says. – Health-e News