DA shadow MEC for health in Gauteng Jack Bloom has cited the shut down of the Charlotte Maxeke Hospital psychiatric ward as the main reason behind attacks on Helen Joseph Hospital staff by mental health patients.
“Psychiatric patients at the Helen Joseph Hospital have assaulted 32 staff members and caused extensive property damage in the past year. Attacks on staff members and vandalism of property have hit the roof at Helen Joseph Hospital,” said Bloom.
He said the hospital has had to increase the number of psychiatric patients after parts Charlotte Maxeke Hospital were gutted by fire early in 2021.
“These shocking figures are revealed in a written reply by Gauteng health MEC Nomathemba Mokgethi to my questions in the Gauteng legislature. Two nurses and a psychiatrist have been bitten, a nurse was hit by a patient who broke her glasses, a guard was stabbed with a knife and ended up in casualty with a collapsed lung.
“His assailant escaped from the psychiatric ward but was apprehended by police at the hospital entrance. A psychiatric patient picked up a wheelchair and tried to throw it at staff, and then broke off a bar from his bed and wielded it as a weapon. Other staff [members] have described slaps and scratches and being molested.
Bloom added: “The property damage includes many broken windows, doors damaged, tampering with electrical cables, and breaking of basins, taps, and toilets. A bed and mattress were also burnt.”
According to Bloom, Helen Joseph Hospital only possesses 45 beds for the psychiatric ward, but it now attends to about 90 psychiatric patients on a daily basis, saying the hospital staff have tirelessly phoned other psychiatric units for assistance with the beds but none are available.
“According to Mokgethi, they have also attempted to discharge patients who, despite not yet being psychiatrically well, are deemed a low risk to self/others and have opened a discharge clinic on a Monday to review these patients in the outpatient department.”
He said it was deplorable that even after the Life Esidimeni tragedy psychiatric patients are still treated poorly at unsuitable facilities without proper security where they are a danger to themselves and others.
“The Democratic Alliance will continue to campaign for decent facilities with adequate staffing to ensure that mental health patients are properly cared for in a safe manner.”
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