A typical day for three surgeons at tertiary health care level

A typical day for three surgeons at tertiary health care level: teamwork to save, extend, and improve lives

Tygerberg Hospital (TBH), Groote Schuur Hospital (GSH) and Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital (RCWMCH) boast highly specialised surgeons who are dedicated team players in times of emergency. No matter the situation, they are always on-call to provide critical care and treatment to people who are referred to them from other healthcare facilities in the country.

Annually, the surgeons collectively perform approximately 55 000 surgeries at the three large hospitals. These include advanced treatments or complex procedures such as plastic surgeries, neurosurgeries, and severe burn treatments.

Included are surgeries which must be done without any delay to prevent death or serious disabilities or loss of limbs and function. In the operating room, the surgeon leads a multidisciplinary team of other doctors and nurses. It is through teamwork that they ensure that a procedure goes smoothly.

While there is no such thing as a typical day in a surgeon’s world, they ‘typically’ spend the day performing surgery and consulting with patients as well as the nurses and anesthesiologists who work with them. On operating room days, the surgeons of these three large hospitals are usually at work by 6am or 7am. They will start the day by checking on their patients who are in the hospital, and then go to the theatre or clinic to see their patients of the day. During the day, some split their time between teaching university students, doing routine ward rounds to check on the patients who had surgery in the morning. In some instances, the surgeons also perform one or two 24-hour shifts per week on complex procedures.

In showcasing surgical excellence every day, they contribute to the public health system in ways that lead to better health outcomes for their patients. Because of their specialist skills and expertise, they have dedicated many hours of their professional lives to save, extend, and improve lives.

Urologic Surgeon at TBH, Dr Pieter Spies (41), specialises in diagnosing and treating diseases of the urinary system. On average, he sees approximately 210 patients per week, including 15-20 patients who are admitted for major surgeries. According to him, he loves team sports and surgery is the ultimate team sport. “We have wonderful theatre staff and surgical teams at Tygerberg Hospital. The urology patients are the highlight of my day! There is never a boring day. You are challenged every day to solve problems that affect a patient’s life on a very personal level, which is the ultimate job satisfaction,” says Dr Spies looking back at his 12 years as a surgeon.

General Surgeon at GSH, Dr Alana Heynes (36), sees approximately 20 patients in the ward per week and has two elective theatre lists per week with two major cases done on each list. According to her, she loves the practical aspects of the job which provide new challenges every day. “It is not just one skill set required, but a whole host of skills with the relevant knowledge. I love the theatre environment, and the tradition and formality of it all. Surgery is really an art as cliche as it sounds, there is definitely something about beautiful surgical plains, clean dissections and the instant gratification of aiming to fix the patient’s problem,” says Dr Heynes, who has been a surgeon for seven years.

Paediatric Surgeon at RCWMCH, Dr Thozama Siyotula (37) says children are very close to her heart and personal experience inspired her to become a surgeon “My younger brother was admitted to a hospital with acute appendicitis. My experience of the hospital, service delivery and impact to restore his health, drew me to the possibility to want to become a part of changing children’s lives for the better through surgery. As I researched into this career, this sparked my interest and desire to become a paediatric surgeon,” says Dr Siyotula, who has been a surgeon for almost two years.

For the Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness providing safe and accessible surgery for patients with complex surgical problems is what the Western Cape’s largest hospitals strive for. Our surgeons demonstrate a high standard of surgical training and professionalism to help implement the physical changes that can improve a patient's quality of life or his or her recovery efforts. Their collective efforts provide a crucial step toward better health and wellness for patients.