No waiting lists at KCUS, while at the General Hospital a hip surgery wait is two years

Written by: Amra Varatanović

The waiting list for hip surgery at the General Hospital „Prim. dr. Abdulah Nakaš“ is already nearly full for 2021. The Clinical Center of the University of Sarajevo did not respond to the question of how long one waits for hip surgery at KCUS.

The director of the General Hospital, Zlatko Kravić, has repeatedly emphasized that the number of patients in that hospital has increased, especially regarding surgeries from the secondary level of healthcare (hernia, gallbladder, appendix surgeries...), after Sebija Izetbegović took over the leadership of KCUS in January 2016. Patients needing these surgical procedures are very often referred from KCUS to the General Hospital, thereby relieving KCUS while burdening the hospital that has a far smaller budget than KCUS. It is precisely the allocation for KCUS that was problematized at the Assembly of the Sarajevo Canton, where representatives expressed dissatisfaction with the service at KCUS, as well as all the problems patients complain about.

The director of KCUS, Sebija Izetbegović, has stated multiple times that there are no waiting lists, but the real question is how many surgeries are performed at the Orthopedics Department of KCUS and whether there has been a reduction in services provided. According to sources from Patria at KCUS, out of seven operating rooms where surgeries were once performed, now operations are most often done in one or two rooms.

Last year, a significant number of doctors left KCUS, including several well-known orthopedists such as Professor Ismet Gavrankapetanović, Professor Mirza Bišćević, Dr. Hasan Tanović, Semin Bećirbegović, Senad Maksić... Their move to the General Hospital attracted numerous patients but also raised the question of how ready the orthopedists at KCUS are to perform the most complex surgeries that were previously carried out under the guidance of world-renowned experts.

Although KCUS claims that the doctors at the Orthopedics Clinic are ready for any surgical procedure, it is evident that the departure of many doctors has affected patient trust.

The ordeal that has been ongoing for the second year after the departure of numerous doctors from KCUS most affects patients and their health. Even more disheartening is the fact that after three full years of the „trial period“ of closing the Emergency Medicine Clinic (KUM) at KCUS on Mondays and Fridays by order of the KCUS director, the „patient pathway“ has not been officially determined. As has been the case in numerous instances, and as confirmed by Director Kravić, patients are very often referred from the General Hospital to KCUS, especially in cases requiring tertiary level healthcare services. This wastes precious time, increases costs, and patients are not asked anything anyway.

The patient pathway should be a priority of the Ministry of Health of the Sarajevo Canton and Minister Amela Sofić, which would finally determine that the Emergency Service decides where to take the patient regardless of the day of the week.