Gauteng health department to give testimony into the deaths of mentally ill patients
The alternative dispute resolution process will look into the death of more than 100 patients who died while in the state’s care
The Gauteng health department is expected to give testimony on Monday about what caused the deaths of more than 100 mentally ill patients who died while in the state’s care.The alternative dispute resolution (ADR) process begins on Monday in Johannesburg and will be chaired by retired chief justice Dikgang Moseneke. Alternative dispute resolution was one of the recommendations made by the health ombudsman in his February report titled "No Guns: 94+ silent deaths and counting". The families lost relatives when they were moved from Life Esidimeni homes into illegal and ill-equipped nongovernmental organisations (NGOs).Many of the 100 or so patients died needlessly of pneumonia‚ starvation and neglect‚ according to health ombudsman Malegapuru Makgoba’s report, released in February.Parties involved will have a chance to explain what went wrong in the cost-cutting exercise that cost the lives of patients and what could have been done better. The families chose arbitration as the method o...
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