Helen Joseph Hospital has recorded a huge increase this year in mental health patients who seek help from the government facility. Dr Nomathemba Mokgethi, Gauteng MEC for health, attributes the huge increase in admission of mental health patients at Helen Joseph Hospital to the poor socioeconomic circumstances which are caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Dr Mokgethi said there has been a huge increase in the number of patients who are suffering from mental health at Helen Joseph Hospital. Not all of the patients are from the nearby residential areas. She further said the increase in the number of patients is caused by illegal substances that the patients have been addicted to. ANother cause is the refusal of some family members to collect their loved ones who have been discharged.
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The MEC said the closure of Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital has also contributed to the high volumes of mental health patients who have been recorded at Helen Joseph Hospital. The MEC has pleaded with families to collect their loved ones once they have been discharged from hospital and not neglect them.
The Gauteng Health Department said in January 2022, Helen Joseph treated 876 mental health patients compared to 80 patients which it had in 2021 around the same period. In ward two and three, 1 395 people were treated in January 2022 and only 620 patents were treated around the same time in 2021.
Dr Mokhethi alludes that more work needs to be done in some of the health facilities, but also said the provincial government has been working hard to ensure that the facilities are up to standard.
Source: Eyewitness News, Times Live, EB News Daily, image from Times Live
