The Gauteng Department of Health has announced a series of interventions aimed at reducing waiting times for children requiring specialised surgery at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital (CMJAH), as pressure on one of the province’s busiest paediatric surgical units continues.
Departmental spokesperson Steve Mabona said the measures include improving theatre efficiency, strengthening the management of surgical waiting lists, enhancing case scheduling, and expanding the implementation of the Treatment Time Guarantee (TTG) programme. The provincial initiative is designed to improve patient flow and maximise the use of operating theatres across Gauteng’s public hospitals.
CMJAH provides specialised paediatric surgical care for a wide range of conditions affecting infants and children, including congenital abnormalities, emergency cases and elective procedures.
Despite mounting pressures on the health system, Mabona said the hospital has consistently maintained its paediatric surgical programme, performing more than 2,000 operations each year over the past several years.
However, he acknowledged that waiting times for some elective procedures remain a significant challenge.
According to Mabona, the delays are driven by several factors, including increasing demand for emergency surgery, limited theatre capacity, shortages of specialised anaesthetic personnel, and restricted access to post-operative and critical care beds.
Mabona explained that emergency paediatric cases frequently require immediate surgical intervention, often forcing the postponement of planned elective procedures.
While prioritising critically ill children is essential to ensuring life-saving treatment is delivered without delay, he said the practice inevitably reduces the amount of theatre time available for elective operations, contributing to longer waiting lists.
To address the growing backlog, the Department is strengthening the way surgical waiting lists are managed through regular clinical reviews and by prioritising patients according to the urgency of their conditions.
Mabona said improvements to theatre scheduling and better coordination of surgical pathways are also helping to increase theatre utilisation and reduce cancellations.
One of the key initiatives under consideration is the introduction of a dedicated emergency paediatric surgical theatre list, supported by its own anaesthetic and nursing teams.
He said this would improve access to emergency surgery while protecting dedicated theatre time for elective procedures, reducing cancellations and preventing further growth in waiting lists.
Mabona added that the Treatment Time Guarantee programme has already delivered positive results by improving access to surgery and reducing treatment delays across Gauteng’s public hospitals.
He said the programme continues to strengthen patient management and increase surgical output across the provincial health system.
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Karabo Ngoepe
iol.co.za
