National
Life Esidimeni Committee to brief media on relocated mental health patients─── 05:53 Tue, 06 Jun 2017
Johannesburg - The Life Esidimeni Family Committee is on Tuesday morning set to brief the media on the mental health care patients who have been relocated following the deaths of a number of patients.
Gauteng Health MEC, Gwen Ramokgopa, revealed in April that less than half of the 1900 patients who had been moved from Life Esidimemi to various non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have been transferred to "suitable facilities".
Over 100 mentally ill patients died after they were transferred from Life Esidimeni hospital to across the province due to cost-cutting measures. The rushed transfer came after the health department's contract with Life Esidimeni was not renewed.
While releasing his report earlier in 2017, health ombudsman Malegapuru Makgoba said that the 27 NGOs where the patients were transferred to were under-resourced, under-financed and under-prepared to take on the influx of mentally ill patients. Some of them were found to not have licenses.
