Theatres back in operation at Rob

Sasekani Manzini, the MEC for health, surprise-visited Rob Ferreira on Monday to do an assessment and announced that all air cons had been repaired and that operating theatres were all functional again.

On Friday, Lowvelder learned there was a backlog of at least 33 patients who had been admitted for much needed orthopaedic surgeries.

The patient who has been waiting the longest for an operation, was someone who was admitted early in October.

Over the past two weeks, the paper reported on dire cases, among them Johan Roets’, who was admitted with a broken left femur on December 3. Roets was working on a roof when the stepladder topped over and he fell to the ground.

For seven consecutive weeks, his operation was postponed. In most of these cases, operations had to be cancelled due to the air conditioning system in the theatres being broken.

ALSO READ: Health MEC pays Rob Ferreira Hospital a surprise visit

After pressure by Lowvelder on the Mpumalanga Department of Health, Roets was eventually taken in for his operation last Thursday.

This was after emergency repairs were made to the air conditioner in the theatre. Roets was discharged on Monday.

“It is lovely to be home again. I just can’t believe the struggle we had to go through to get my broken femur splinted.  “I’m currently doing numerous exercises to strengthen my leg.”

On Monday, the DA also jumped on the bandwagon when Jane Sithole, the leader of the party in Mpumalanga, made an urgent call on Manzini to urgently intervene.

“We’re happy to announce that contractors were brought in to repair the air cons and all theatres are now operational,” Manzini said after her visit.

The unannounced visit by Manzini was a small light in the tunnel, but this was quickly extinguished later that day when another 75-year-old pensioner’s operation had to be cancelled, once again due to a broken air con. She had been lying in Rob Ferreira since December 12 and was prepped on Sunday night to go to theatre to have her left femur splinted.

ALSO READ: Operation postponed for the 7th time

At round 18:00 on Monday night she was eventually wheeled into the theatre, just to be informed that her operation was postponed until Friday.

According to the doctor, the theatre was not cold enough due to a dysfunctional air con. He also complained about the dirty floor and walls in the theatre.

Lowvelder has learned that she was eventually taken into theatre on Wednesday.

During her visit to the hospital, Manzini was accompanied by Dudu Mdluli, the HOD of health.  Among other facilities, they visited the outpatient department, the patient admissions as well as the casualty.

Manzini said she would continue to target clinics and hospitals with unannounced visits to check on the physical conditions of the premises, stock levels and medical equipment.

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Lowvelder previously reported that two family members of Roets, one a retired staff member of the health department and the other a current employee, were called in by a senior manager to put pressure on them to stop the publication of information by the newspaper.

Roets’ daughter, Lorna, as well as his ex-wife, Sandra van Rensburg, this week denied being called in by any manager at the Department of Health.

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