Pretoria - Gauteng Health MEC Hope Papo has encouraged families and communities to report any suspected abuse of mental patients to the provincial Mental Health Review Board (MHRB).
“In September last year, I appointed new members on the MHRB and their task is to ensure that the care, treatment and rehabilitation of persons who are mentally ill conform to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights,” said Papo.
Members of the board, which include a legal expert, mental health care practitioners and community representatives, visit over 100 institutions, which are psychiatric hospitals and mental health NGOs, regularly.
The aim of these visits is to monitor whether these institutions comply with the Mental Health Care Act No 17 of 2002, which aims to ensure that the rights of mental patients are known and protected.
During these site visits, patients are educated on their rights, including being treated with respect, human dignity and privacy, not to be unfairly discriminated against, not to be exploited and abused.
Mental health practitioners are also sensitised on how to handle mental health patients. The board also represents patients who feel that they are being unfairly treated in any institution.
They also make sure that it is only those patients who should be in an institution that are admitted and those who can be treated as out-patients are not forced to be in an institution.
There is also emphasis on the right for patients to appeal to the Mental Health Review Board with regard to the care, treatment and rehabilitation rendered to them.
Working with NGOs and other relevant stakeholders, the board members also participate in activities that ensure that once discharged from a mental health institution, patients are integrated back into communities. There are support groups to assist them to deal with any form of discrimination they might be subjected to.
Another critical function of the board is to alert the department on areas that need improvement to ensure quality service delivery.
In addition to the work of the Mental Health Board, the department’s health promoters visit schools, health facilities and communities creating awareness on mental disorders and educating people on how to live a fulfilling life even they suffer from mental illness.
Papo also made an appeal to communities to support people with mental illnesses and emphasised the importance of supporting those whose illness is a result of drug or substance abuse.
“They need support to achieve treatment compliance and also to continue with follow-up visits at local clinics or SANCA once they are discharged from institutions. Of great concern to us are the multiple admissions of mental ill patients and in most cases this happens due to lack of support at home and from communities,” he said.
This month, being mental health awareness month, the department officials, with the help of the board are focusing on families living with mentally ill persons; encouraging mental health facilities users to comply with their treatment and focus on rehabilitation.
Under the theme, Making mental health a South African priority, support groups will be encouraged to ensure smooth integration into society once the patients are discharged.
The Gauteng Mental Health Care Review Board can be contacted on (011) 355 3375/3279/3413/3902. – SAnews.gov.za
