Cape Town – As Western Cape doctors prepare for the peak in Covid-19 infections and deaths, they’re also having to contend with a massive influx in alcohol-related complaints.
The Western Cape Health Department said that trauma admissions had increased by 66% since the liquor ban was lifted earlier this month.
As alcohol has hit people’s bloodstream again, things have become even harder for clinicians working in the public health sector. Health facilities are seeing more patients admitted to the trauma unit since the alcohol ban was lifted.
“Some of our staff really struggle with this because we know that a lot of it is preventable. It causes the staff significant trauma,” said Saadiq Kariem, Chief of Operations for the Western Cape Department of Health.
Kariem added that there were always hard choices to be made in the trauma unit – doctors have to decide who to treat immediately and who can afford to wait.
The province’s peak is just around the corner and those working in the Western Cape’s trauma units hope that people will heed the call to drink responsibly and avoid becoming another avoidable trauma case that divides the attention of the frontline health staff.
