MBOMBELA – The weekend of May 8 to 10 may just be your ticket to good health if you’ve been one of the thousands of patients waiting for much-needed orthopaedic surgery.
Twenty orthopaedic surgeons from various other provinces have agreed to offer their services in an attempt to reduce the backlog of patients who require this type of surgery.
Also read: More than 2 000 patients waiting on orthopaedic surgery
According to Mr Dumisani Malamule, spokesman for the provincial Department of Health, the surgeries will be performed as part of a project called Orthopaedic Letsema.
It is being led by Rob Ferreira’s CEO Ms Fridah Nyathi. “The department has requested all CEOs of the province’s state hospitals to submit their list of all patients who are awaiting the services of orthopaedic surgeons to Nyathi. She will then consolidate and determine the total number of patients who require the services. The outcomes of the project will determine whether it will be extended further or not,” Malamule added.
The department has only four orthopaedic surgeons of which two are located at Witbank Hospital, one at Themba and the other one at Rob Ferreira Hospital. “The department is busy headhunting more surgeons to come and be based permanently in the province,” Malamule concluded.
