The Free State Department of Health’s spokesperson, Mondli Mvambi, explained that 20 patients were scheduled for surgery but only 19 were operated on. One person could not be operated on due to an anaesthetic risk as a result of high blood pressure and the clinical team resorted to the postponement of the procedure so that they can control the blood pressure and assist this patient at a later date with elective surgery. 

“The MEC responsible for Health Montseng Tsiu has sent a word of appreciation to the team for kicking off the year from where they left off in 2022, as the weekend of 28 and 29 January was their first [Ortho Blitz weekend] of the year,” he added. The team volunteered to render services over the weekend in order to reduce the extensive backlogs of patients awaiting orthopaedic surgeries. Dr Jabu Mofokeng, surgeon at the Bongani Regional Hospital in Welkom, led the team during the Ortho Blitz weekend.

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The backlog of surgeries in the province has been in the spotlight a few times. It began in early 2022 when patients of the Pelonomi Hospital in Bloemfontein complained about being kept at the hospital for a long period of time before getting operated on. 

At the time, Mvambi stated the staff at the hospital are also overwhelmed by the huge demand for orthopaedic services due to high volumes of cases of trauma, violence, and injury, which require more theatre space, time, and resources. 

To help with the issue, the Department began the process of interviewing anaesthetists and orthopaedic specialists who will come and bolster the hospital’s capacity at different levels of care. Mvambi explained they are working relentlessly to strengthen healthcare services and remove the burden of high volumes of referrals to Pelonomi by strengthening orthopaedic services at lower levels of care.

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Late in 2022, the backlog of orthopaedic surgeries was still an issue, irrespective of the solutions that the department had come up with earlier in the year. However, the issue at the time was not at Pelonomi, but at the Boitumelo Regional Hospital in Kroonstad.

During an oversight visit at the hospital by the Democratic Alliance (DA), it was alleged that they found the operating theatres non-functional and this has been an issue since May 2022. DA Health spokesperson in the provincial legislature, Mariëtte Pittaway, said that air conditioners were out of order due to vandalism and they also found leaking roofs in the theatres. 

“We were informed that only emergency procedures are being done in the theatres.” She added that operating without air conditioners in high temperatures is an extreme risk and it increases the chance of infections. The broken air conditioners are only one of the challenges at the Boitumelo Hospital. The DA is of the view that there is little to no general maintenance taking place at the hospital. 

“Boitumelo Hospital is part of the nationally funded hospital revitalisation programme and upgrading commenced in 2009. Contract 12 of this programme, which includes an ICU, is still not completed as scheduled in 2014,” said Pittaway. 

The party further alleges that there currently is a backlog of 2 947 surgeries in the province.

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