5 000 wait for surgery
2008-03-18 10:35
Johannesburg - Nearly 5 000 patients are waiting for surgery in Gauteng's four major hospitals, the DA said in a statement on Monday.
DA Gauteng health spokesperson Jack Bloom said this was revealed to him by the Gauteng Health Department.
He said 3 800 cataract patients were awaiting treatment, 585 people were waiting for joint surgery (mainly for the hip and knee), 450 people needed heart surgery, and another 122 were on the waiting list for spinal surgery.
They were on the list for surgery at the Johannesburg, Chris Hani Baragwanath, Pretoria Academic and Dr George Mukhari hospitals.
The figures were for December last year, and Bloom expected they had worsened due to the power cuts in January and February.
"The solution is to contract private hospitals to cut this significantly, otherwise the backlogs will only shorten when patients die."
The Gauteng Health Department and Johannesburg Hospital were unable to confirm the figures immediately.
- SAPA