The department’s implementation comes on the heels of patients from the hospital complaining about being kept at the hospital for a long period of time before getting operated on.

The departmental spokesperson, Mondli Mvambi, confirmed that it is true some patients have been waiting for a long period of time due to different reasons, as each injury is treated on its own individual merit and healthcare service provision is tailored to each patient. However, the staff at the hospital are allegedly 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.

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The Department has begun the process of interviewing anaesthetists and orthopaedic specialists who will come and bolster the hospital’s capacity at different levels of care. In addition, on the evening of Wednesday 23 February, the department opened more theatre space and transported some orthopaedic patients to be attended to at the Albert Nzula District Hospital in Trompsburg. Between the Albert Nzula and Pelonomi Hospital there are less than 66 patients scheduled for orthopaedic surgeries this week.

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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. The Fezi Ngubentombi Hospital in Sasolburg will, as of Friday, start providing orthopaedic services with an orthopaedic surgeon.

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The outreach will be done by the Boitumelo Hospital, to ensure that this hospital becomes a "centre of excellence" in the near future. The Manapo Hospital in Qwaqwa will no longer refer orthopaedic cases to Pelonomi but treat these cases at Manapo through specialists at the hospital. Dihlabeng Regional Hospital is also dealing with orthopaedic cases from around and near Bethlehem. The Bongani Hospital in Welkom is ensuring that they deal with orthopaedic services within their span of control.

Pelonomi did 251 surgeries in November 2021; 250 surgeries in December 2021; 253 surgeries in January 2022, and so far 134 for February 2022.

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