Audit of surgical procedures in regional and central hospitals in Limpopo Province, South Africa

Background. There is a paucity of data on the functioning and surgical procedures performed in rural hospitals in South Africa. Objective. To determine the category of procedures performed at regional and tertiary hospitals in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Method. We conducted a retrospective analysis of surgical procedures performed in the regional and tertiary hospitals in Limpopo Province during a 1-year period from 1 March 2019 to 29 February 2020. Results. A total of 24 263 surgical procedures were performed during the study period. More than half of all cases (50.4%; n=12 252) were operated on at the tertiary hospitals while regional hospitals performed the remaining 12 011 operations. Conclusion. There is a great necessity to alleviate the central hospitals from the bulk of surgical procedures.