Joint Operation Committee debates fate of mentally ill hospital patients
...a plan needed to be put in place like was done for the homeless.
Lolo Madonsela
Some families are in a predicament, after mentally ill patients were discharged from hospitals.
During the Joint Operation Committee (JOC) meeting last week, the CEO of Vryheid Private Hospital, Fikile Ngema said patients who were ‘mentally disturbed’ were to be discharged from the hospital back into the care of their families, in order to make more space for possible Covid-19 patients.
“We needed to ensure the bed capacity is not up to 100 per cent to prepare in case there is a disaster, so the patients who can be taken care of by family will be discharged. Mentally disturbed patients are ordinary patients, so we discharge the patient when we see they are fit and are on treatment. Even Madadeni Hospital does not have enough beds, so people can be seen and be given treatment then sent home. At this stage, all hospitals in the country are required to keep 50 per cent of beds free so should there be more people identified with Covid-19, we can be able to take care of those people,” she explained.
Also read:Â No data currently available on COVID-19 disease in people living with HIV and/or TB
Some committee members felt the mentally ill patients should not be sent back into the community during the lockdown, and said a plan needed to be put in place like was done for the homeless.
As it stands, some mentally ill patients roam the streets, exposing themselves to infection with Covid-19.
The JOC eventually decided on the way forward, which was to have the Departments of Health and Social Development devise an action plan to address the matter urgently, to ensure the mentally ill patients on the streets do not become coronavirus statistics and do not further spread the virus.
Make sure you follow us on our social media platforms for regular updates
