This was revealed by Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu in a written reply to DA Gauteng Shadow Health MEC Jack Bloom.
According to Bloom 51 patients are currently waiting for gall bladder operations at the hospital.
Laparoscopy is a surgery that uses a thin, lighted tube inserted in a small incision in the belly which allows surgeons to see the abdominal organs.
According to Bloom, 51 patients are currently waiting for gall bladder operations at the hospital. Bloom said, “Normally about six gall bladder operations are done every month, so the backlog is now more than eight months because of the broken equipment.”
Mahlangu stated that new laparoscopy equipment would be delivered in six to eight weeks, and patients were being referred to the Helen Joseph Hospital for gall bladder surgery.
Bloom said, “It is shameful that this major hospital has been for so long without a key piece of surgery equipment.”
It is believed that other broken equipment at the hospital this year include the following:
- Mammography machine to detect breast cancer
- Air-conditioning failure in operating theatres
- Shortage of clean linen because of a broken sterilising machine.
