Wells Paediatric Burns Unit

Expanding Care for Young Burn Victims

A Lifeline for Pediatric Burn Victims

At CHBAH, we are committed to providing specialized care through our dedicated Paediatric Burns Unit (PBU), which has just opened after a R26 million renovation and upgrade, now houses 118 intensive care beds, 24 general ward beds, and an upgraded multidisciplinary rehabilitation facility.

Leading the Way in Specialist Burn Care

Established in 1995, the J and J Burns Unit has been at the forefront of specialised burn treatment in South Africa for nearly three decades. As one of the country’s premier burns centres, our facility has played a critical role in advancing burn care and improving patient outcomes through expert, multidisciplinary treatment.

By 2011, the Burns Unit was one of only six dedicated burns centres in South Africa. Recognising the increasing demand for specialised burn care, the national network expanded to 17 centres by 2018, collectively offering a total of 511 burns beds across the country. Despite this growth, the need for expert treatment remains critical, with approximately 8,200 burn-related hospital admissions annually, spanning both adult and paediatric cases.

Specialist-led treatment teams are proven to enhance patient outcomes, particularly in paediatric burn care. The Paediatric Burns Centre at CHBAH (Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital) is one of only two dedicated paediatric burns referral centres in South Africa, making it a vital resource for children suffering from severe burn injuries.

Our catchment area underscores the immense responsibility we bear. CHBAH’s official drainage area once served a population of over 3.5 million, but with extended referral coverage, we now receive paediatric burn cases from all of Gauteng, North West Province, Limpopo, and Mpumalanga—expanding our effective service population to over 23 million people.

Burn injuries remain one of the leading health crises in South Africa, particularly among children. Burns are one of the top three causes of injury-related child mortality in the country, contributing to an estimated 1,500 deaths per year. At CHBAH Burns Unit, we are committed to reducing this toll through world-class medical intervention, cutting-edge treatment, and compassionate care.

Through our dedication, expertise, and continued innovation, particularly after the recent renovation, the newly named Wells Paediatric Burns Unit stands as a beacon of hope for burn victims and their families, ensuring that every patient receives the highest standard of care.

Topics covered

Importance of the
Paediatric Burns Unit

Health care delivery in South Africa is heavily focused on treatment rather than prevention. This despite the fact that for most medical conditions, prevention is more cost effective than cure.

Paediatric burns are an extremely common and growing problem at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, result in significant injury and cost to affected individuals, their families and the health care system, and are largely preventable.

Recognizing the limitations of the existing unit, Surgeons for Little Lives identified critical areas for improvement and has been working towards enhancing the facility since 2015.

The Reality of Pediatric Burn Care

Our specialized burns unit has treated nearly 3,000 children (2015–2020), with 78% under five years old. Hot water burns account for 81% of cases, and nearly half involve more than 10% of the body. Demand surges in winter, yet our unit remains at full capacity year-round, often forcing us to turn away referrals.

Admissions have increased by 45% over the past decade, with nearly 900 children treated in 2019 alone. Burns make up 60% of all trauma-related admissions, and 20% of pediatric surgeries. ICU stays are critical, but mortality rates are over twice as high for referrals (43%) compared to direct admissions (19%).

Thanks to a multidisciplinary approach, unit mortality has dropped from 12% to 5%, outperforming the national average (14%). However, sepsis remains a leading cause of death, and external factors—poverty, overcrowding, and poor infrastructure—continue to drive burn injuries.

We urgently need more resources to expand capacity and improve care. With your support, we can save more young lives and provide the treatment they deserve.

Ongoing Improvements to the Paediatric Burns Unit

Recognizing the limitations of the existing unit, Surgeons for Little Lives identified critical areas for improvement and has been working towards enhancing the facility since 2015, and with this hard work and perseverance culminating in launching the Wells Paediatric Burns Unit in March 2025.

Through research and consultation with clinicians and administrators, key priorities were established:

Expanding ICU bed capacity from 6 to 11.
Improving workflow and infection control to reduce hospital-acquired infections.
Upgrading dressing rooms for more effective wound care.
Creating dedicated spaces for Rehabilitative Services (Occupational Therapy & Physiotherapy).
Providing public restroom facilities (currently unavailable).

With the introduction of specialist Paediatric Intensive Care staff and other targeted strategies, we have significantly reduced the previously high mortality rate in the unit.

Limited Theatre Access

Children only have access two days a week, despite their need for urgent and ongoing surgical care.

Cross-Contamination

Sharing a theatre with adult burn patients increases the risk of life-threatening infections in our paediatric patients.

Our Goal and vision

A Standalone Paediatric Burns Theatre & Recovery Room

By building a dedicated theatre for paediatric burn patients, we can:

Burn Awareness Campaigns

Recognising that paediatric burns are largely preventable, we have taken a multipronged approach to the management of this public health issue through our efforts to improve the existing burns unit, and also developing and widely implementing an education based paediatric burns prevention campaign throughout Gauteng Province.

Our Programme is based on 3 pillars: General Awareness, Risk Reduction, Treatment. The aim is to give a simple message, to the correct audience, repetitively, in their home language, using a variety of media, in the hopes that this will result in decrease in paediatric burns.

View Our Outreach Programmes