Mandela Day surgery drive gives renewed life to 350 Cape patients

After living with excruciating pain in his knee for more than 30 years following an injury in 1985, Liam Dyason, 65, of Ottery in Cape Town, had given up hope of getting knee replacement surgery. He had spent years on the public healthcare sector’s waiting list with no joy. 

Dyason considers himself lucky to have worked until the age of 60, given his limitations.

“I worked at a tyre fitment centre and my job required me to kneel down all the time. I would go home with such pain that I would not sleep at night.” 

“My two daughters, who I had after the injury, decided they would work hard for the next five years to accumulate money so I could have the surgery which would cost more than R200,000.” 

A year ago Dyason received a call from Groote Schuur Hospital “asking if I still needed the surgery”.

“It was a big yes. I had prayed one day this would happen, but after I retired I sort of lost hope. When I received that call it was the most exciting news to hear what I had desired for so long was finally happening.” 

Dyason is one of the beneficiaries of the Mandela Day Surgeries Project, a public-private sector initiative by the Western Cape health department and health organisations to improve the lives of patients who need elective surgeries but are often subjected to long waiting lists in the public sector. 

After a three-year break during the Covid-19 pandemic, this year the project, which is supported by Mediclinic, Life Healthcare, the Joint Care Trust and the Radiance Foundation among its partners, has been revived, with more than 350 people set to receive life-changing surgeries in public and private hospitals in the Western Cape. 

“The project embodies the spirit of Nelson Mandela's vision for a better world and serves as a powerful reminder that each of us has the ability and responsibility to make a positive impact in our communities,” said Western Cape department of health head Keith Cloete. 

He said when the department launched the project in 2017, 67 people received life-changing surgeries in line with the 67 minutes of community service many South Africans do every year in memory of the 67 years of the late statesman's service to the public. 

Elective surgeries came to a halt during the pandemic, resulting in even longer waiting lists. Cloete said public-private partnerships such as this and investing more public funds in surgery had reduced waiting lists tremendously.  

“In general surgical waiting lists vary in terms of discipline and across hospitals. One of the most important things we did in the past two years is we put some of our own resources and budget to work, to work away at the backlog at many of our bigger institutions.

“This initiative, together with the fact that we've invested additional resources, has made a significant difference in the surgical waiting lists across disciplines and across institutions since Covid-19.” 

Cloete said over the past financial year the department had invested more than R30m to reduce surgery backlogs. 

“We have continued to build on that money and hospitals have started reorganising their baseline to ensure people on waiting lists are prioritised. What we want is no waiting list anywhere and to provide access to care in a reasonable time. ” 

Nozuko Mtoto of Gugulethu is one of the patients who recently regained sight after cataract removal on both eyes as part of the initiative. 

Her daughter Pam Mtoto said her mother’s restoration of sight has brought joy to the 62-year-old and her family. 

“My mother has struggled for years until she received her first procedure a few months ago. Before she would pretend to see and would fall and injure herself. The fear of losing her sight permanently was taking a toll on her.” 

Head of surgery at Groote Schuur Prof Lydia Cairncross said the hospital, which had a backlog of about 6,000 surgeries during the pandemic, has reduced the list to between 2,000 and 3,000 patients. 

“We've always had hundreds to thousands of patients waiting for operations ranging from cataract surgery to hernia operations, surgery for kidney stones or for closing stomas and prostate cancer. Because we have such a high burden of emergency surgery and trauma, people who come in with a burst appendix or gunshot wounds, they tend to need the theatre time as an emergency which sometimes put those who need elective surgeries at a disadvantage.”

While public-private partnership helped reduce the surgery backlog, Cairncross said a strong public healthcare system would go a long way to improving the situation. 

“We need to continue to build capacity and partnerships with the private sector which assists us in many ways, but the most sustainable solution is to build a strong health system. We want to see the public and private health systems work together for one health service for the nation.” 

Groote Schuur CEO Bhavna Patel said the hospital has been experiencing more pressure after the pandemic as the number of medically uninsured people is increasing after the loss of employment.

“We are seeing a lot more acutely ill patients and we are struggling with bed pressure and theatre time. We thought the pressure would be less by now, but we are seeing more patients, including those who were previously insured.”

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