This article may contain graphic and/or adult content unsuitable for minors and sensitive readers.
To alleviate pressure on the heavily strained regional George Hospital - which served more than 120 000 patients last year - the Western Cape Health Department has announced its plans to develop a district hospital for the area.
Department spokeswoman for the Eden district Nadia Ferreira said plans for a district hospital for George formed part of the department's long term infrastructure programme.
"A district hospital will alleviate the pressure on George Hospital which is a regional hospital which receives referrals from the other district hospitals in Eden as well as the primary health care clinics. George Hospital specialists also render outreach and support services to district hospitals and some clinics in the more rural and outlying sub-districts, where they consult referred patients and train and support clinical staff working in these settings," said Ferreira.
The referrals come from as far as Riversdale and include Ladismith, Mossel Bay, Oudtshoorn, Uniondale, Bitou and Knysna as well as Central Karoo. "More serious cases at these hospitals are sent to George Hospital."
This resulted in massive patient numbers last year. "George Hospital served 41 000 emergency patients, 21 000 inpatients and 61 000 outpatients in 2012."
Ferreira said the George Hospital also offered services, not available at other hospitals in the district including general surgery, with vascular surgery and urgent neurosurgical procedures. Other specialist procedures include orthopedic surgery including replacement surgery such as hip and knee replacements as well as obstetric and gynecological surgery, paediatrics and neonatology, internal medicine, psychiatric services, ophthalmology with particular emphasis on cataract surgery.
George Hospital also has an emergency unit where patients are seen and stabilised before being referred to the appropriate departments, a family medicine department and an oncology unit.
"All specialities provide a significant quantum of tertiary work. In a three month audit last year in obstetrics - only one patient was referred to Groote Schuur Hospital for a very rare condition that required specialist equipment to treat. Otherwise all other tertiary patients were accommodated in George, along with specialist services and district health patients.
"I think is fair to say that there is a need for a midwife-led obstetric unit in George. This will reduce the number of uncomplicated deliveries and pressure on staff and beds, allowing patients to stay a little bit longer."
Ferreira said although plans for a district hospital was on the cards, she could not provide a timeframe in which these plans would be executed.
George municipal manager Trevor Botha said George was considered the economic hub of the Garden Route area and also has the highest population in comparison to the
surrounding municipalities. "I would think that it is consequently considered a viable option to build the district hospital in George which is also a practical decision as it is centrally situated and easily accessible," said Botha.
"It will of course be more beneficial for the communities of the George
municipal region as they will not have to travel far distances to get to
the hospital."
