Cape Town - The Gift of the Givers (GOTG) has said it will donate R5 million to Groote Schuur Hospital (GSH) for backlogged procedures affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The disaster relief organisation’s head, Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, joined GSH CEO Dr Bhavna Patel, GSH General Surgery head Dr Lydia Cairncross, and GSH Trust chairperson Mustaq Brey for a media briefing at GSH on Tuesday.
The contribution will go towards GSH’s Surgical Recovery Project to address 1 500 backlogged surgical procedures for medical conditions.
The hospital is now determined to raise the remaining R10m required and has appealed for donations to be made to its primary fund-raising platform, the Groote Schuur Hospital Trust.
“We had to reduce the number of operating theatres by about 40%, this is because we had to reallocate staff that were working in theatre to go and work in the Covid-19 wards and Covid-19 ICUs. And that means that about 10 000 to 15 000 patients did not get their surgical operations over the past two years.
“Whereas we were doing about 19 000 operations in 2019, in the last two years, we’ve lost between 10 000 and 15 000. So there’s been a huge impact on the services and we’re now looking at recovery,” Patel said.
Some staff and surgeons have offered to work for free on weekends, with many nurses working overtime to accommodate this, said Patel.
Cairncross said over 6 000 patients were awaiting essential surgery at GSH alone. Though initially created for this purpose, E4 Ward has never been used for surgical procedures and instead is used for Covid-19 high care.
“We hope that we can use that space as a theatre and to do operations,” she said. “We hope to run 500 theatre lists over one year, providing 1 500 to 2 000 operations to deserving patients. At R15m for the year, this means that for every R10 000 donated, we can do approximately one operation.”
The money raised will fund nursing and anaesthetic support over the oneyear period. Cairncross said GSH will not say no to volunteers.
GOTG has supported 210 hospitals nationwide during the pandemic.
Sooliman said: “This is a call firstly to the government. They cannot absolve themselves from responsibility.
“This is a call for action, not only to the corporates, we appreciate the fact that they're very willing, but (to) ordinary South Africans, because your money can help your own family, your neighbour, and it doesn't matter what the amount is.
“It is collective support that can make a difference. It's about active citizenry, about standing up together and fixing this country ourselves.”
Sooliman called on medical students and others who have gained training from the hospital to support the initiative, and put out a call for private healthcare to take in patients from the public sector.
GSH hopes to begin with procedures from May 1.
A pledge of R100 000 has been made by a Zaheer Parker, on behalf of a group who will be hiking for five days along the Otter Hiking Trail to raise the amount.