The staff of the Bongani Regional Hospital, Welkom, sacrificed an entire weekend to perform 20 orthopaedic surgeries.
This happened on 11 and 12 November. Since September 2021, the medical staff at Bongani have performed in excess of 13 orthopaedic marathons.
“This has restored the dignity of orthopaedic patients and improved their quality of life. In order to bring down the number of orthopaedic surgeries, many health facilities resort to embarking on orthopaedic marathons where they gather medical experts and financial resources, and perform many of these procedures over a weekend or a week,” says Mondli Mvambi, spokesperson for the Free State Department of Health.
“The staff at the Bongani hospital took into consideration that the festive season is around the corner. This adds to high numbers of trauma and violence. The commitment is to clear these cases and hope that there will be minimal cases in the festive season into the new year,” he says.
The Bongani hospital is doing its best to increase the capacity of its theatres.
The orthopedic theatres are expected to run 24/7, but due to a shortage of staff and financial resources, the theatres run three times a week from 08:00 to 16:00.
“The health system needs more nurses and doctors to run efficiently. Importantly, we need to deal with our social problems that lead to health systems being overwhelmed.”
The hospital caters for orthopaedic patients of Fezile Dabi and Lejweleputswa districts and neighbouring provinces. Without additional resources this can be overwhelming to the hospital and demoralising to the clerks, cleaners, nurses, and doctors.
Mvambi says the orthopaedic marathons are not a pastime activity; they are essential life saving activities to the helpless public that would result in multiple health complications and death if they were left unattended.
The Free State MEC for Health, Mathabo Leeto, applauded the decision by the Bongani hospital to embark on this marathon.
“We appreciate the sacrifice and commitment of everyone that lent a helping hand. We need more decisive actions that will improve the quality of life and prevent death” said Leeto.
Leeto said their commitment is to save lives and prevent death.
“We congratulate the 20 patients who received their orthopaedic surgeries this weekend, adding to the more than 750 surgeries, performed since April this year. These are stepping stones towards the full implementation of the National Health Insurance (NHI).
“It is our desire to see every citizen receiving their much-needed health care service irrespective of their ability to afford them,” she said.
