More than 10 000 operations could not have been carried out at Groote Schuur Hospital over the past two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Head of General Surgery Professor Lydia Cairncross says among the operations that could not have been done includes patients suffering from chronic joint and back pain needing replacements, and those slowly going blind needing cataract surgery.

During the peak of the Western Cape’s third wave, Groote Schuur hospital was operating at above capacity and needed to redirect resources to deal with Covid-19 patients. The hospital is now looking at ways to recover from the backlog.