Cape Town - Western Cape hospitals have consistently had the highest general cases of trauma recorded in emergency rooms across the country since 2021.
Not only has the Province’s head count in this category shot up from 736 083 between April 2020 and March 2021 to 906 388 between April 2022 and March 2023, it far outstrips and more than quadruples the numbers recorded by most other provinces.
Gauteng comes a distant second with 583 984 such cases from April 2022 to March 2023.
So said Health Minister Joe Phaahla, who painted a bloody picture of trauma cases in a parliamentary reply to DA spokesperson on health Michéle Clarke.
Department spokesperson Foster Mohale confirmed that Phaahla was referring to general trauma cases.
Phaahla’s statistics come a fortnight after provincial Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel recorded 9 147 incidents during a bloody Easter period, which was more than last year’s 8 156 incidents over the same period.
Phaahla said the “accident and emergency” (casualty) and trauma unit headcount category recorded 5 174 108 trauma incidents nationally from April 2022 to March 2023.
In this category, Phaahla said, the Western Cape saw 906 388 incidents in the same period. Comparatively, the Northern Cape recorded 65 665; North West, 113 856; Free State, 125 269; Gauteng, 583 984; KwaZulu-Natal, 409 092; Limpopo, 280 091; Eastern Cape, 299 033; and Mpumalanga, 243 611.
The Province’s figures increased from 736 083 between April 2020 and March 2021 to 885 693 from April 2021 to March 2022, Phaahla’s figures show.
Although there was a decrease in traumas in some of the provinces from March 21, national statistics increased dramatically from 4 436 318 by March 2021 to 5 912 606 by March 2022. The figures dipped to 5 174108 by March 2023.
The minister said private hospitals’ data was not readily available for the department to make comparisons. Phaahla said the information had been sought and will be made available to Clarke once his office receives it.
Trauma Centre for Survivors of Violence and Torture, which provides support to mainly gender-based violence victims, said that during the pandemic in 2020/21, when there were restrictions on the use of alcohol, there was a significant reduction in trauma cases at the hospitals. Trauma Centre director Marguerite Holtzhausen said alcohol abuse could be regarded as a driver of violence and trauma.
The provincial department’s website shows that of all incidents recorded during the Easter weekend, 31% were of a life-threatening nature and most patients were transported to the Tygerberg, Worcester and Groote Schuur Hospitals.
“Most incidents involved chest pains (1 557), respiratory complaints (1 006), weapon assaults (934) obstetric complains (571), and physical assaults (511),” the website said.
EMS had responded to 193 incidents, which included 84 pedestrians.
“Our emergency centres and our front line staff also had no respite this past long weekend. Trauma cases coupled with non-trauma cases continue to burden our emergency centres as they are the first point of entry to the health system for many residents,” Western Cape (WC) Health said, as it logged 11 010 visits to its emergency centres during Easter.
Of these, among others, 2 654 related to trauma: 611 involved stabbings; 527 involved blunt assaults; 465 were accidental injuries; 346 emanated from falls; 142 were sport injuries; 118 stemmed from bites; 94 related to motor vehicle injuries; and 89 were pedestrian injuries.
Crime statistics could be an indication of violence in communities, Holtzhausen said. “Gang violence is an important factor, but in October to December 2022 in the Western Cape, the way we respond to conflict and interpersonal disagreements in this province led to slightly more deaths. This could be a reflection of the lack of interpersonal skills, but also the state of mental health of people,” she said.
She said the Trauma Centre, the Counselling Hub, LifeLine WC, Famsa WC, Jelly Beanz, Mosaic and Rape Crisis sent a collective letter to Premier Alan Winde in December, requesting the province to include psychosocial support as an essential service of care for all community members, especially women, children and LGBTQIA+.
She said Winde’s additional investment of R91.92 million to expand GBV services, including victim empowerment programmes, shelters for victims of GBV, and psychosocial support services is a step in the right direction.