A Limpopo man whose leg was broken in a car crash in February is still waiting for orthopaedic surgery – just one among more than 600 people on the waiting list at Polokwane Hospital, where there’s a regional shortage of orthopaedic surgeons, reports Health-e News.
The patient, who doesn’t remember the details of the accident that left him unconscious with a broken femur and shin, said he woke up in the WF Knobel Hospital in the Moletjie area, where he stayed for more than two months, receiving only painkillers.
“The nurse said I was brought to the hospital by an ambulance. She said the hospital didn’t have surgeons to operate on me, but I would soon be transferred to Polokwane,” the man recalled.
He was eventually transferred to Polokwane Hospital in early May. “All I get are promises that I will get the operation soon,” he added.
Limpopo Health spokesperson Neil Shikwambana told Health-e News the public sector was facing a critical shortage of orthopaedic surgeons.
“As a result, referral hospitals end up with long waiting lists for specialist care.”
Three years on crutches
Another patient awaiting surgery is Matome Boetsi, who fractured both legs in a car accident in December 2022.
“I was first admitted at Helena Franz Hospital at Bochum, but there were no orthopaedic surgeons, so I was taken to Polokwane Hospital the next day. But they had none there either, and said I should be taken to Lebowakgomo,” he said. “There were no surgeons there, so then they transferred me back to Polokwane.”
After a month as an inpatient at Polokwane Hospital, Boetsi said his legs were put in a cast, and he was discharged two days later.
More than three years later, he relies on crutches, is still in pain, and says his legs “have never fully recovered”.
“I’m now an outpatient, nursing my wounds at home under the care of my family. I’m still using crutches, and all I hear is one story: no surgeons,” he said. “I have lost a huge amount of weight due to depression caused by these persistent delays of my surgery.”
Long-standing issue
Shikwambana said the backlog is an ongoing challenge.
“Orthopaedic surgeons are extremely scarce, not only in Limpopo but countrywide. As a rural province, we find ourselves competing with urban areas for skills. Even if we recruit specialists, we struggle to retain them,” he said.
“We send our young doctors to specialise so they can come back to work in the province. But retention becomes a challenge because of the province’s social and economic outlook.”
Opposition parties in the legislature said the state of healthcare in Limpopo was appalling and in need of a quick fix.
Lindy Wilson, provincial leader of the DA in Limpopo, said that apart from staff shortages, the health system was severely under-equipped, with decaying infrastructure.
“Doctors are also not willing to work in most of the rural facilities because of low morale, which is why every hospital and clinic has a shortage of nurses, surgeons and specialists, and why the trauma sections are awfully unequipped,” she said.
“This province is an absolute disaster. The shortage of orthopaedic surgeons is just the tip of the iceberg, and a lot of patients are still going to suffer.”
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