Weekend Surgeries set for Fifth Successful Run to Alleviate Surgery Waiting List

The Weekend Waiting List Initiative has been running as an annual project since 2011. The Initiative was established to address the protracted waiting list by adding an additional day of surgeries (Saturday) to the hospital’s operating schedule. By reducing the large volumes of relatively minor cases, more scope and flexibility is provided for more complex cases to be attended to during the week. 

The Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital is running its fifth annual weekend initiative, previously referred to as Saturday Surgeries, for 17 weeks from 4 July until 24 October 2015. 

The hospital does not usually conduct elective anaesthetic lists over weekends, but the project will provide an extra day of procedures on Saturdays to significantly lessen the hospital’s waiting lists for life-changing procedures such as general paediatric surgery, paediatric Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) surgery, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Orthopaedic Surgery. 

Donors which included MediClinic, Sea Harvest, Brimstone Investment, the Africa Muslims Agency, the Fred Robertson Foundation and Absolut Travel, have all come on board via the Children’s Hospital Trust and the Hospital's Facility Board to fund this project. 

“Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital is well known nationally and internationally, for the complex surgical procedures performed on children from all of the surgical specialties. Performing these intricate, time consuming operations often leads to the cancellation of many of the patients with minor surgical conditions due to time constraints and pressure on beds”, says Dr Anita Parbhoo, Medical Manager at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital.

Such cases should not be postponed for too long as it can lead to more serious medical complications that require more complex care, including admission and additional outpatient visits. 

The Day Surgery Unit, which is not in use on the weekends, has been chosen as the main site for this project. This will ensure that there will be no negative impact on other patients requiring beds over the weekend. To ensure maximum impact and efficient use of available time on the day, only experienced Specialists are involved in undertaking the cases. 

“This year, we are doing additional surgeries for paediatric surgical disciplines, Orthopaedic Surgery, as well as for MRI scan lists where the patient needs to be sedated under general anaesthesia. An MRI can take an hour to do and it is imperative that the patient lies still during this investigation as any movement interferes with the clarity of the images obtained. For young children, we often need to sedate them as they are not able to lie still for long periods of time. This has recently resulted in a longer waiting list for planned MRI’s – emergency MRI scans are usually done immediately", adds Parbhoo.

“These surgeries make a significant impact on little patients who have waited a very long time for surgery often enduring painful and difficult symptoms over this waiting period. These life-changing operations enabled by these extra days of surgery would not be possible without the generous donations made by loyal supporters of the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital. We would like to extend a warm and heartfelt thank you to them all,” says Louise Driver, CEO of the Children’s Hospital Trust.

“We would like to thank our partners who have come on board to assist in clearing the backlogs in paediatric surgical procedures. This much needed procedures will now be done with the help of multiple donors. In today’s world of complexity and rapid pace it is almost impossible to do anything alone. This is especially true in health where we are faced with so many challenges. We welcome initiatives like these that enable us as Department to provide quality health to all across the province” said Prof. Nomafrench Mbombo, Western Cape Minister of Health. 

Fact Sheet: 
2011
Duration: 22 October – 10 December (8 Weeks)
Disciplines: ENT Surgery and General Paediatric Surgery cases
Number of patients treated: 54

2012
Duration: 1 September – 24 November (12 Weeks) 
Disciplines: ENT Surgery, General Paediatric and Plastic Surgery
Number of patients treated: 87

2013
Duration: 7 September – 26 October (8 Weeks) 
Disciplines: ENT Surgery and General Paediatric Surgery cases
Number of patients treated: 79

2014
Duration: 5 July – 29 November (20 Weeks) 
Disciplines: Paediatric Surgical Disciplines (General Paediatric Surgery and Paediatric ENT Surgery) and MRI
Number of patients treated: 155

Summary of 2015 Project:  
Duration: 4 July – 24 October (17 weeks) 
Disciplines: Paediatric Surgical Disciplines (General Paediatric Surgery and Paediatric ENT Surgery), MRI and Orthopaedic Surgery 
Number of patients treated so far: 84