Department spokesperson, Mondli Mvambi, reassures the public, they have managed to decrease the number of people that were waiting for surgeries by more than 50% through a series of interventions. 

Pictures of patients sleeping on the floor of the tertiary hospital’s Orthopaedic ward were circulated on social media platforms this week, eliciting public concern over the matter. 

EFF Councillor at the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality, Baba Sebolao, describes the situation as being “unacceptable” in an angry tweet. 

Sebolao alleges they encountered a similar situation at National Hospital, also located in the Free State capital. 

The department spokesperson said the pictures, while well-intentioned, do not tell a true and full story.

At present, the department states several patients have been transferred from Pelonomi back to the Botshabelo District Hospital, the Senorita Senorita Ntlabathi Hospital at Ladybrand and the Albert Nzula Hospital at Trompsburg, after remedying the structural problems and shortage of anaesthetists at those surrounding facilities. 

Surgeries at the three hospitals are expected to commence on Tuesday, March 19 and March 20. 

At the height of the problem about two weeks ago, 45 people were sleeping in Pelonomi’s waiting areas. Mvambi notes currently 15 people are now waiting for surgeries at Pelonomi.

 “We are coping with the situation” maintains the spokesperson.

The Department’s three page long response on the matter tells the story of an Orthopaedic wing that has over the last few years been battling backlogs, in part due to lack of anaesthetists at surrounding hospitals in the province, but also due to a lack of available theatres to meet the demands at Pelonomi. 

Mvambi notes the former in his statement, but does not delve into the latter. 

In July 2018, Pelonomi Hospital Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Baesi Ramodula admitted the hospital does not have enough theatres to deal with the backlog.  

The Botshabelo and Trompsburg hospitals on other hand had available facilities, but not the specialists. 

So the plan at the time was that Pelonomi specialists would be moved around to these hospitals to perform the procedures and lower the backlog. 

This system began to work for the hospital, but several hiccups cited in the statement were encountered along the way.

The tertiary hospital was forced to accommodate orthopaedic patients on the floor, as a temporary measure after the Botshabelo District Hospital was hit by torrential rains in February that damaged the roof of the operating theatre there and patients had to be moved to Pelonomi. 

This along with issue of “protracted negotiations with patients” and the facilitation of available anaesthetists for transferring patients to the Albert Nzula hospital in Trompsburg and the Senorita Ntlabathi Hospital at Ladybrand for surgeries compounded Pelonomi’s woes further.  

In an interview Mvambi explains that Pelonomi has twelve operating theatres, four of which are dedicated to the maternity and gynaecological ward.

OFM News