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HomeMedico-LegalRevised guidelines for care facilities for mentally disabled

Revised guidelines for care facilities for mentally disabled

IntellectualdisabilityThe May 2017 national guidelines for licensing and running residential and day care facilities for people with mental and/or intellectual disabilities have been revised – apparently to focus on ‘severe or profound intellectual disability’ rather than intellectual disability in general, reports Pam Saxby for Legalbrief Policy Watch.

Gazetted on Friday, the new guidelines no longer feature a definition of the term "severe or profound intellectual disability" but include a section on the rights of mental health care users. Among other things, these provide that the proprietor and manager of a residential or day care facility must ensure that the mental health care users concerned: are attended to in a manner consistent with the nature and severity of their health condition, as prescribed in the applicable regulations; and have appropriate access to medical and other health care services.

The revised regulations also deal more comprehensively with compliance, spelling out what this entails across each aspect of the services provided. Other issues addressed include: licensing; facilities and infrastructure norms and standards; clinical care, support and governance; and human resources matters.

[link url="http://legalbrief.co.za/diary/legalbrief-today/policy-watch/health-revised-guidelines-for-mentallyintellectually-disabled-care-facilities/#redirect"]Legalbrief Policy Watch report[/link]
[link url="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/41498_gon218b.pdf"]Guidelines[/link]

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