While almost all the previous Life Esidimeni psychiatric patients have been transferred from the NGOs in Gauteng back into hospital, the psychiatric structure in South Africa is falling apart, Health24 reports a group of doctors are warning. The SA Society for Psychiatrists (SASOP) says 150 days after the Health Ombudsman released his damning report in February, many hospitals are still understaffed with few resources.
“The SA healthcare system is totally fragmented and broken. Esidimeni was just the tip of the iceberg," Professor Bernard Janse van Rensburg, president of SASOP is quoted in the report as saying.
Earlier this year, Health Ombudsman Professor Malegapuru Makgoba said the death toll of mentally ill patients who were transferred from Life Esidimeni to 27 NGOs will continue to rise, and is now above 100.
“The Health Ombud’s report recommended some action to be completed within 45 days, yet 150 days later, it is glaringly apparent that the general poor access to both physical and mental health care at community level remains unaddressed, and no comprehensive remedial strategy has yet been tabled in Gauteng, or elsewhere. Our own report now serves as a second call for action to be taken.”
The report says some of the most concerning findings from their report include: only six public sector psychiatrists are serving the whole of Limpopo; Hayani Hospital in Limpopo, a 390-bed mental health specialist hospital, where in 2016 a psychiatric nurse was killed by an in-patient, currently has no psychiatrist; in all provinces, psychiatrists have to admit children and adolescents unlawfully into adult psychiatry wards; in Kwa-Zulu Natal, a massive specialist staffing crisis exists where only 20 of the 45 specialist posts are filled; and no province currently has organised community-based psychiatric services.
The report says according to Janse van Rensburg, SASOP continually engages with government, but there is no will to see the seriousness of the situation. “Their priorities are wrong and the sector is seriously underfunded. We will never have enough psychiatrists and psychologists, but we need better care at community level. “We are not asking for high-tech equipment; all we need are well-trained multidisciplinary teams. The solution is quite simple."
SASOP says in its statement that “this is a second call from SASOP for an overhaul of the mental health care system in all the provinces. The specific needs and highest priorities of each province must be addressed. The failure to provide accessible mental health care will only entrench the pervasive stigma and discrimination of the mentally ill in South Africa. “
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) is, meanwhile set to conduct an investigation into issues affecting mentally ill patients‚ including the tragic deaths of patients who were transferred from Life Esidimeni to various NGOs, reports The Times.
This is contained in the SAHRC's Civil and Political Rights Report, which examines "key" developments around civil and political rights in the country between 2016/2017. "The SAHRC is preparing to undertake an investigation into the systematic issues that led to the tragic situation [deaths of patients] and will continue monitoring the Esidimeni situation‚" the report reads.
The Commission said it will also host an investigative hearing on "key issues" related to mental disability and access to healthcare services in South Africa‚ which it said will require a process of identifying some of the systematic issues and defining what role the SAHRC can and should play going forward.
The SAHRC recommends that government should ensure that all parties involved in implementing the recommendations in the Ombudsman's report are "adequately and capacitated to do so".
The report says the organisation will in August be holding hearings on the issues affecting mentally ill patients including the stigma attached to the illness and circumstances the Life Esidimeni patients were living under. "The hearings are not limited to Life Esidimeni‚ but will include issues related to mental disability‚" said Pandelis Gregoriou of the SAHRC.
[link url="http://www.health24.com/Mental-Health/News/doctors-warn-sa-mental-healthcare-collapsing-after-esidimeni-20170628"]Health24 report[/link]
[link url="https://www.sasop.co.za/Content/Images/SASOPMediaStatementAccessMentalHealthCare23June2017.pdf"]SASOP statement[/link]
[link url="https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2017-06-28-human-rights-watchdog-to-investigate-challenges-faced-by-mentally-ill-patients/"]The Times report[/link]