District hospital surgical capacity in Western Cape Province, South Africa: A cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND

The role of the district hospital (DH) in surgical care has been undervalued. However, decentralised surgical services at DHs have been identified as a key component of universal health coverage. Surgical capacity at DHs in Western Cape (WC) Province, South Africa, has not been described.

OBJECTIVES

To describe DH surgical capacity in WC and identify barriers to scaling up surgical capacity at these facilities.

METHODS

This was a cross-sectional survey of 33 DHs using the World Health Organization surgical situational analysis tool administered to hospital staff from June to December 2019. The survey addressed the following domains: general services and financing; service delivery and surgical volume; surgical workforce; hospital and operating theatre (OT) infrastructure, equipment and medication; and barriers to scaling up surgical care.

RESULTS

Seven of 33 DHs (21%) did not have a functional OT. Of the 28 World Bank DH procedures, small WC DHs performed up to 22 (79%) and medium/large DHs up to 26 (93%). Only medium/large DHs performed all three bellwether procedures. Five DHs (15%) had a full-time surgeon, anaesthetist or obstetrician (SAO). Of DHs without any SAO specialists, 14 (50%) had family physicians (FPs). These DHs performed more operative procedures than those without FPs (p=0.005). Lack of finances dedicated for surgical care and lack of surgical providers were the most reported barriers to providing and expanding surgical services.

CONCLUSIONS

WC DH surgical capacity varied by hospital size. However, FPs could play an essential role in surgery at DHs with appropriate training, oversight and support from SAO specialists. Strategies to scale up surgical capacity include dedicated financial and human resources.