39 assaults involving mental patients at Bheki Mlangeni Hospital

26 September 2021

Mental health patients at the Bheki Mlangeni Hospital in Soweto have been involved in 39 assaults on staff or other patients since January last year.

This is disclosed by Gauteng Health MEC, Nomathemba Mokgethi, in a written reply to my questions in the Gauteng Legislature.

According to Mokgethi, 30 mental health patients were assaulted by other psychiatric patients, and 9 employees were also attacked.

I am very concerned by the continuing lack of measures to avoid violence by psychiatric patients at this hospital. This is despite the terrible incident in May last year when an elderly patient was stabbed to death by a mentally ill patient who also injured another patient.

The hospital has admitted 2 319 psychiatric patients since January last year but does not have a dedicated psychiatric ward. The only arrangement is 14 beds reserved for male psychiatric patients, and 12 beds for female users in medical wards.

The hospital admits that there are inadequate beds for psychiatric patients, particularly because the Accident and Emergency Unit always has an overflow of patients who have to wait for a bed to become available in the wards.

Mokgethi says that a 14 bed unit is being refurbished on the ground floor to become a male psychiatric ward, and the referral system is being strengthened to transfer confirmed psychiatric patients to higher-level hospitals after 72 hours of observation.

The problem, however, is that the psychiatric unit at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital is always full.

It is very disappointing that proper arrangements have still not been made to ensure the safety and well-being of psychiatric patients at this hospital.

The DA believes that the Life Esidimeni tragedy highlighted shameful neglect of mental health patients which needs to be rectified at all health facilities in Gauteng.

Issued by Jack Bloom, DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health, 26 September 2021