Health Ombudman publishes health report

The Democratic Alliance has welcomed the announcement that the Health Ombudsman‘s final report about the deaths of mental health patients in Gauteng will be made public today, February 1.

According to professor Malegapuru Makgoba, “Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu provided feedback on the report within the set time frame, submitting a 10-page document on January 13 and a 12-page document on January 24.”

Makgoba has studied the input received and finalized the report which was provided to the Acting CEO of the Office of Health Standards Compliance (OHSC) Bafana Msibi on Monday, January 30 as required by law for action.

It is believed that the report will indicate that as many as 80 patients died when they were transferred from Life Healthcare Esidimeni after the Gauteng Health Department cancelled its contract with them last year.

The Gauteng Shadow Health MEC Jack Bloom said: “Relatives of those who died, need to know the truth about the circumstances of their deaths.”

The report should lead to accountability for the deaths.

Criminal prosecutions may follow depending on the evidence provided in the report and will include the post-mortems on those who died.

Bloom said: “Patients should never again be abused by the health system and their lives put at risk by ill-considered actions.”