Mpumalanga hospitals exceed in orthopaedic marathon

The Mpumalanga MEC for health, Sasekani Manzini, met with the orthopaedic surgeons and staff members who participated in the recent orthopaedic marathon conducted in all five major provincial hospitals.

The meeting was held at the Nutting House Lodge in Mbombela on August 10.

Manzini said each and every member of the team is equally important and plays a unique role, because if one member does not pull their weight, the project collapses.

She said the decision taken by the department to conduct the marathon during May was aimed at reducing the backlog of the number of patients waiting for orthopaedic operations to an acceptable level.

“They were conducted by regional and tertiary hospitals as the referral hospitals, roping in the district ones for skills transference and clinical exposure. On May 8, the orthopaedic marathon was launched at Themba Hospital. I made a promise to the people of the province that we will clear the backlog, as patients are admitted daily due to injuries and trauma resulting in fractures,” Manzini said.

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The backlog on the launch date was 421 patients.
Initially, the target was to operate on 209 patients, however, hospitals made a commitment to clear the backlog and reviewed their targets. At the end of May, a total of 432 patients had been operated on.

“The approach was to clear the backlog in the district hospitals first, so as to have one waiting list in the regional and tertiary ones. Today, we recognise the excellent work done by the teams, working under challenging circumstances, but still striving to provide quality care to our patients. I called all of you here to show my appreciation for your commitment to service delivery.

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“I am aware that not all of you are here, because other staff members are continuing with operations that were already booked in advance. This is indeed commendable. Conducting a marathon of this nature requires a multidisciplinary team approach. I acknowledge all the staff who contributed to this achievement: orthopaedic surgeons, anaesthetists, medical officers, professional nurses, enrolled nurses and enrolled nursing assistants, radiographers, emergency medical services practitioners, cleaners, porters and admin and support staff,” said Manzini.

She said all the regional and tertiary hospitals exceeded their set targets.