SEBOKENG.- History was made when the Sebokeng Hospital performed its first brain surgeries on two patients who have been suffering from a subdural hematoma (bleeding onto the brain) last week.
The Gauteng Department of Health said that the major milestone in over forty years comes after the recent establishment of a Neurosurgery unit at the hospital. Previously, Sebokeng Hospital referred patients in need of brain surgery to Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital (CHBAH).
The department said that the first patient was a gentleman who experienced weakness on the right side of his body and was unable to walk or talk and that the operation took 2 hours to perform. While the second patient was a young man who was injured 3 months ago.
Gauteng MEC for Health and Wellness, Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko congratulated the team, citing that the surgery bears evidence of the support given by the Gauteng Department of Health to capacitate its “centers of excellence” by ensuring that health facilities have the right skills and equipment to render services to the public.
“As part of reclaiming the jewel of the Gauteng public health system, one of our key focus areas is to ensure that our facilities function optimally and that infrastructure challenges are addressed as this has a direct bearing on positive health outcomes, explained the MEC.
Sebokeng Hospitals’ Acting Chief Executive Officer, Dr Fhatuwani Mbara said that many patients who presented at the facility with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) were demising due to a lack of immediate
neurosurgical interventions.
“TBI patients were occupying ICU beds for a prolonged duration with no definite management plan because the majority of the patients require different types of operations ranging from skull, brain, and spine surgeries. The newly established unit and the highly skilled team we have will ensure that we reduce head injury-related deaths that are sustained by our patients, especially men of younger age groups,” said Dr Mbara.
