Poor equipment at Charlotte Maxeke results in surgery cancellations

According to Jack Bloom, the Gauteng Provincial Legislature’s Shadow MEC for Health, the latest incident which occurred on 10 February is one of many cases contributing to the substantial backlog of patients waiting for surgery at the hospital.

“The patient got ready, and [when they got there] they were told sorry the surgery has been cancelled as the air conditioning was not working. Now they will have to wait many months [to have that surgery]. This happens all the time,” he said.

Arthroplasty is an orthopedic surgical procedure that is done to relieve pain and restore function to joints after damage by arthritis or some other type of trauma.

Bloom stated that special arrangements had been made with extra staff in order to bring down the long waiting lists for surgery on knee and hip joints, but despite this, patients are still sitting dejectedly in waiting rooms.

“More than 400 patients at the hospital wait for up to six months for knee and hip surgery.”

Last year it was revealed that 310 operations had been cancelled at the Charlotte Maxeke Hospital from January to August for a variety of reasons. Some of which were attributed to the lack of intensive unit care beds at the hospital.

“It is very stressful for patients to refrain from food and prepare themselves for surgery that is cancelled at the last moment.

Poor maintenance is to blame in many instances for the failure of machinery that is needed for surgery, such as air-conditioning,” said Bloom.

“Theatres should optimally be kept at a temperature of 18 degrees Celsius. The latest machine failure highlights the need to improve maintenance at our hospitals which continue to be plagued by machinery breakdowns.”