Gift of the Givers to fund ‘catch-up’ surgeries
Dr SA Singh, Dr TK Nieuwoudt, Dr Jitesh Vallabh, Dr Ahmed Bhyat, Dr F Kimmie and Dr RA Hassan will be performing 40 surgeries at Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe Hospital to help address theatre backlogs. Picture: Supplied
THE HEAD of surgery at Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe Hospital and a member of Gift of the Givers, Dr Ahmed Bhyat, along with a team of volunteers, will be performing surgeries from October 28 to 30 to address theatre backlogs at the Kimberley facility.
Patients with life-threatening conditions have been waiting for up to seven weeks for surgeries to be performed, where they were informed that the backlog is due to a shortage of theatre nurses, laundry, beds and other resources as well as because of water shortages during municipal shutdowns.
Bhyat said that he requested the assistance of anaesthetists and scrub sisters to perform 40 catch-up surgeries at the end of the month over a period of three days.
“We want to operate on patients who have been waiting for surgeries in the wards and at home for weeks on end,” said Bhyat.
Gift of the Givers indicated that it would fund 10 volunteers, which includes five anaesthetists and five scrub sisters.
“Catch-up surgery will include the provision of personnel, consumables and shared expenses with private facilities. This is an expanding project with Gift of the Givers to bring quality health and quick turnaround time for the suffering millions in our country. Support for funding 300 registrars is going to make an incredible difference.”