A number of state hospitals in Gauteng have put elective surgeries on the back burner until the next financial year, but this will only exacerbate the backlog, say critics.
Sources have confirmed to Health-e News that Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic and Helen Joseph Hospitals said elective procedures will probably only resume in April 2025 and at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital (Bara), new bookings for elective surgeries have been pushed to June.
While these non-emergency surgeries are not life-threatening, they are crucial to a patient’s quality of life and include procedures like orthopaedic surgery and knee and hip replacements.
The province’s backlog was estimated to be around 38 000 last year.
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Backlog of nearly 200 000 elective surgeries at public hospitals