NEHAWU is deeply shocked and angered by the reports of fatal attacks on patients by two mentally ill patients in Limpopo and North West respectively. Apparently two people died and several were injured after they were attacked by mentally ill patients in W F Knobel Hospital in Limpopo and Zeerust Hospital in North West. The union offers its heartfelt condolences to the families who have lost their loved ones and wishes a speedy recovery to those who were injured.
We demand an investigation of these disturbing incidences ,in order to ascertain what went wrong and also the immediate implementation of remedial methods in security inside and around the hospitals. NEHAWU puts the blame squarely on the shoulders of the department of health because; we have been desperately calling on them to stop the outsourcing and privatization of security services.
Our union demands that government present a comprehensive health strategy on dealing with the serious challenge of mental ill-health. This aspect of health care is often hidden because of the social stigma attached to mental ill-health. Government should provide adequate resources to pay for the safety and care of the people who are suffering from mental ill-health.
We call on the departments of Social Development, Health and Women Children and People to work together in dealing with the challenge of providing facilities and care for people living with mental disabilities. Unfortunately it is the working class families that are struggling with the challenge of mental ill-health because mental disorders relate not only to biological and psychological factors but also to the factors arising from the inequalities and adverse socio-economic conditions that are endemic in South African society.
We need to train and hire more workers ,who understand the dynamics that come with dealing with people with mental disabilities, like specialists’ nurses, occupational therapists, social workers psychiatrists and psychologists, if we are to avoid the tragic incidences like the ones that happened in Limpopo and North West. Government also need to reopen all the mental facilities that were closed under the ill-conceived GEAR policy that was more concerned with cutting down and minimizing the size of the state. People with mental ill-health should be treated in dedicated facilities by well qualified people.
The Department of Health also needs to urgently address the issue of poor and unsafe conditions in the workplace. The dedication and sacrifice that our health practitioners make to serve the people of South Africa is constantly compromised by substandard security services in our country’s health facilities.
Government needs to stop paying lip service to its commitment to service delivery. It is disturbing to witness the atrocious and substandard working conditions that the public health workers are subjected to everyday.
We call on the Minister of Health, Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi, to hold all managers of health institutions fully accountable for their failures and they must take responsibility for incidences where people lose their lives because of negligence. South Africans should join the fight against privatization, public private partnerships {ppp’s} and outsourcing in hospitals in order to keep them safe for all citizens.
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