Violent crime in the Western Cape over the festive season has had a devastating impact on the health system.
Health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo says during the period between 15 December 2018 and 15 January 2019 the department treated more than 8 000 patients for violent trauma, which include stabbings and gunshot victims.
“Injuries and interpersonal violence are one of the biggest contributors to the province’s quadrupled burden of disease.
“While the Department of Health feels the effects of violence and injuries, addressing the upstream factors must be a collaborative effort by all departments.”
During this period, over 30 000 emergency cases were transported to hospitals and 8 069 were as a result of violence.
Mbombo says 2 894 cases were as a result of assault with a weapon, 956 physical assaults and 864 accidental injury cases.
“Our Forensic Pathology Service also dealt with a spate of admissions, whether through violent crimes or accident-related deaths caused by reckless behaviour and driving under the influence of alcohol.
“Over 11 000 mortuary cases were admitted across the Western Cape in 2018. The impact of the high number of deaths due to unnatural causes has resulted in a backlog and an increase of our caseloads at our mortuaries.
“In the Metro alone, we received over 8 000 admissions at our two large state mortuaries situated at Tygerberg and Salt River.”
She says admitting and treating a patient with a gunshot injury costs about R22 000, but if the patient also requires orthopaedic surgery the cost goes up to R25 000.