Health MEC battling to find families of psychiatric patients
Gauteng health MEC says 63 of 763 psychiatric patients have been transferred from NGOs to a Clinix hospital, but the ombudsman’s 45-day deadline is tight
Gauteng health MEC Gwen Ramokgopa has given an update on the transfer of psychiatric patients from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that were found to be operating illegally by the health ombudsman a month ago. "Out of 763 patients in various NGOs‚ only 63 were successfully transferred to different facilities this week‚ with the remainder of 700 patients still at the NGOs‚" Ramokgopa said on Wednesday afternoon. She said the department would be "paying R459 per patient per day" at the Clinix Selby Park Hospital‚ in Johannesburg‚ that has 642 beds and other facilities to cater for the needs of the psychiatric patients. Dr Dumani Kula‚ deputy CEO of the Clinix Health Group‚ said the hospital is one of the high-capacity private hospitals in the country and can‚ therefore‚ cater to the needs of the patients. According to the MEC‚ eight officials implicated in the crisis have been suspended. "Out of the 27 NGOs‚ five were initially closed down. An additional two were closed down sin...
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