Season 15 Episode 11

Dr Maria van Zyl on fixing South Africa's healthcare bottlenecks

19 October 2026 · 13:34 min

Healthcare bottlenecks in South Africa are not always caused by shortages — inefficient systems can also leave beds, staff, and theatres underused.

Dr Maria van Zyl, Senior Lecturer and Postgraduate Programme Manager in Industrial Engineering at the North-West University, explains how engineering… can improve the way hospitals operate.

She discusses mathematical modelling, simulation, data analytics, and operations research to improve surgery scheduling, patient flow, resource allocation, and workforce planning. Van Zyl also shares NWU research into nurse burnout, which found that management trust and feeling heard can be critical factors alongside staffing pressures.

The conversation explores collaboration between engineers and clinicians, South Africa’s limited healthcare data, and how locally developed solutions could help other constrained healthcare systems across Africa.

0:00 Intro
1:15 What industrial engineers see in hospitals
2:14 Modelling hospital demand
3:52 Understanding nurse burnout
6:31 Engineers and clinicians working together
9:32 Solutions for healthcare across Africa
11:33 What success could look like

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