Maitland Cottage Children’s Orthopaedic Hospital 1771 views

At Maitland Cottage Hospital, our surgeons perform life-changing orthopaedic operations on children up to 17 years old from all over the W & E Cape

A Brief History of Maitland Cottage Hospital

We’ve come a long way since the 1900’s when we started. You May be interested to read further here.

• Early 1900’s – no orthopaedic departments in any of the Cape Town hospitals and few orthopaedic surgeons. 
• Children with long-term orthopaedic conditions, could not be accommodated as in-patients.  and were sent home in plaster beds or frames or splints and calipers. 
• Voluntary workers found most children severely neglected.
• 1929 – the Cape Town Society for the Protection of Child Life publicised the tragic plight of these children.  Money was raised and the 2 cottages rented in the Maitland Garden Village and were called “Maitland Cottage Homes”, accomodating 7 children
• 1938 – 64 children in the Homes.
• 1940 – Maitland Cottage Home recognised as hospital
• 1949 – cottages no longer suitable for the care of these patients . Fund launched for a new hospital building. 
• 1952 – a new hospital is built in the present location, Kildare Road, Newlands.
• The hospital, is called the Maitland Cottage Home for Disabled Children accommodates 85 children. 
• 1956 – Mr Martin Singer from the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital London joined his brother Mr Alec Singer as honorary consultants and the operating theatre started functioning on a regular basis. 
• 1973 – Dr AW Husband replaced Mr Alec Singer and  were helped by the services of Honorary Anaesthetists, Pathologists and Medical Officers while all the X-rays were taken at the Red Cross Children’s War Memorial Hospital.
• 1977 – Maitland Cottage Home became an integral part of the Orthopaedic Department of the University of Cape Town and Groote Schuur Hospital. Registras were allocated to the Maitland Cottage Home.
• 1977 – 1987 – operations increased by 900% and admissions by 320%.  Therefore a more sophisticated theatre became essential. 
• 1988 –a 40m² state of the art theatre is built.  Headed by Professor Teddie Hoffman and his team the complete spectrum of paediatric orthopaedics is covered.
• 1990 – 2005 Prof Hoffman and his team have had 32 papers published in international peer review journals. Eminent orthopaedic surgeons, international Professors and several groups such as  the ABC Travelling Fellows , the American Outreach Orthopaedic Group and the German Orthopaedic Fellows  have visited the hospital.
• 2014 – Dr Stewart Dix-Peek takes over as Head of Surgery
• The Maitland Cottage Hospital is the most prominent paediatric orthopaedic hospital in Africa.
• Currently performing over 550 life changing operations per annum