Question NW260 to the Minister of Health
06 September 2024 - NW260
Sindane, Mr P to ask the Minister of Health
(1) What (a) is the current backlog of surgeries in all government hospitals, (b) types of surgeries are in the backlog, (c) is the period and/or duration of each type of backlog, (d) action has been put in place to eradicate the backlog and (e) are the timeframes for the eradication of the backlog;
Reply:
- The are no surgical backlogs with reference to emergency surgeries as these are managed as soon as they present to hospitals. The surgical backlogs that are experienced in our hospitals are for elective surgeries and these are at varying degrees in provinces. One of the reasons why there are surgical backlogs is the limited number of skilled specialists in our hospitals. These backlogs are pronounced in provinces where there are no Medical schools, such as Limpopo Province, North-West province, Northern Cape and Mpumalanga. The types of surgeries that have backlogs include: orthopaedics, general surgery, urology, ophthalmology, maxilo-facial, cataract, ear nose and throat, neurosurgery, and gynaecology. All provinces have put measure in place to manage these backlogs which include but not limited to surgical marathons, outreach to lower level facilities to reduce up referrals, capacitation of Regional hospitals to do some of these surgeries and upgrading aging equipment in theatre. It is to be noted that backlogs are a moving target, as surgeries are conducted, the backlog numbers reduce.
- No
END.