REGIONAL NEWS - The Eastern Cape MEC for Health, Ntandokazi Capa, has rejected a DA motion to the Provincial Legislature that proposed measures to reduce elective orthopaedic surgery backlogs in the province, stating that she believed the Department of Health is taking sufficient action.
In a press release this morning, 24 April, the DA's Eastern Cape shadow MEC for Health, Jane Cowley, called this rejection of the motion a "feeble response" from the ANC and said that these words "just how completely out of touch this department is with reality".
Facts
Cowley said the ANC's claim that enough is being done to address the "shocking backlogs", would surely mean that the backlog is shrinking. However, she says, it continues to climb.
She listed some facts to support this claim:
• At Frere Hospital in Buffalo City Metro, the waiting list for elective orthopaedic surgeries in November last year stood at 2 001 people, and only 40 surgeries per year are currently taking place.
• At Livingstone Hospital in Gqeberha, the waiting list stands at 1 300 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.
Cowley says that, while the Bedford Hospital surgeries are pleasing to note, most of these are trauma patients and not patients on elective surgery waiting lists.
Proposed measures 'achievable'
"The measures proposed in our motion to reduce backlogs are practical, achievable, and offer solutions," Cowley says.
"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."
Cowly reiterates the DA's commitment to fighting 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."
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