Statement by MEC for Health, Ms Qedani Mahlangu delivered at media conference
The Mental Health Care Act no 17 of 2002 encourages mental health care practitioners to treat mental health care users in the least restrictive environment. As the Gauteng Department of Health we strive towards making sure that all mental health care users are afforded human dignity and privacy. In order to ensure that every mental health care user develops to full potential and are integrated back to the community.
The department took a decision to terminate its contract with Life Esidimeni in line with the act. This was also after realisation that the contract was in contravention of Auditor General and the financial management prescripts. The budget allocation which was spent on the facility is now being reprioritised and will ensure that we employ more employees at our psychiatric wards in our hospitals.
From November 2015 as part of terminating the contract the department started referring fewer patients to the Life Esidimeni. At the beginning of April 2016 there were about 1476 patients at the facility, which included adults (male and female), but excluded 295 children with severe intellectual disability which currently at Baneng Care Centre, Life Esidimeni facility. We have relocated 1476 patients and out of that 91 were taken home by their families.
After concluding the placement the department’s mental healthcare team went back to assess all the patients to see if they were well placed and if not the team relocated patients to an appropriate facility. We encourage family members that reside far from facilities to interact with the department for assistance and discussions.
Family forums have been there and we continue to encourage all families to attend these sessions with a view to improve the quality of care we given to their beloved ones. Moving forward we would like to interact with families directly as that would ensure challenges are resolved sorted timeously.
We have been placing patients from Life Esidimeni to Non-Governmental Organisation (NGOs) for more than 10 years. In total there are 122 NGOs that we have been working with, of which only 14 are new. These NGOs have been servicing over 5000 mental patients over this period,” added the MEC.
The criteria used to select NGOs was that they need to have water and lights, sufficient place to sleep for every patient, catering and recreational facilities, space for medication, care workers with a ratio of 1:10. In certain facilities with severe intellectual disability the ratio of care worker is far higher.
We have since visited all NGOs whom we transferred patients from Life Esidimeni and discovered that some of those facilities did not follow protocols. We then made interventions accordingly. The Mental review board is working closely with the department to assess the conditions of all NGOs and patients wellbeing.
After we learnt about the unfavourable conditions at Bokang Home Care Centre, where we found the centre too small to accommodate 23 patients, and did not have sufficient ablution, recreation and stimulation facilities. We have since removed all patients to Sterkfontein Psychiatric Hospital.
Following the discovery that an NGO called Siyabadinga was not properly appointed the department took over the responsibility of taking care of the patients and has suspended the manager responsible for the appointment. We have seconded nurses from Weskoppies and Cullinan Psychiatric Hospitals. Most of the NGOs conform to the stipulated agreements and they are providing quality care.
We are not dumping patients and as such we are committed to improving the quality of patient care and act in the best interest of both the mental health patients and their families. The relocation of patients has allowed the department to develop, resource and uplift community based NGO’s for a more inclusive approach to home patient care.
During this process we have refurbished Weskoppies, Sterkfontein and Cullinan psychiatric hospitals accordingly. We call upon all stakeholders to work with us in the best interest of patients. We are going to investigate the deaths at NGOs.
Note for Editors:
In September 2015, the Department of Health gave Life Esidimeni notice for termination of contract on the 31 March 2016 and later extends the termination contract period to 30 June 2016. The notice term was in line with the Service Level Agreement (SLA) clause 3.3 that indicates that the Agreement may, subject to clause 7, be terminated by either party on no less than six months prior written notice to the other party.
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