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The Komani Hospital in the Enoch Mgijima Municipality is a 440-bed facility for mental health patients and forensic psychiatric patients and has a 90% Bed Utilisation Rate (BUR), but there is not a single permanent Specialist Psychiatrist based at the hospital.

This was revealed on Wednesday, 8 June 2022, in an oversight inspection to the facility by DA Eastern Cape Provincial Leader, Nqaba Bhanga MPL and myself. Furthermore, while the facility should have 33 specialist Psychiatric nurses, it currently has only six.

When one considers that the vast majority of mental patients in the province are referred to this facility, these shortages of specialised personnel cripple the ability of the hospital to offer specialised care.

While the post for a specialist psychiatrist has been advertised more than once, there are simply no applicants for the position. It is alleged that the few specialist psychiatrists in the province would prefer to be based elsewhere.

Most concerning is the fact that there is no nursing manager, no clinical manager, no administrative manager, no financial manager and no human resource manager at the facility. The only post that has been advertised so far is that of nursing manager.

IN 2018, after a full review of mental health facilities in the province, the Health Ombudsman the late Professor Mkhize made very strong recommendations to the department in terms of improving mental health services in the province in order to comply with national norms and standards.

After a full four years since his report was released, only a few of the recommendations have been partially achieved. This is evidenced by the fact that mental health facilities in the province are still grossly under-resourced.

Currently the hospital is serviced on Fridays by a specialist psychiatrist who is based at Fort England Hospital in Makhanda. While this assists in terms of discharging patients and updating prescriptions for patients, it remains woefully inadequate for a hospital of this size.

I will write to the EC MEC for Health, Nomakosazana Meth, to urge her to prioritise the advertisement of the critical specialist posts and the management posts for this facility, which will allow it to function optimally.

I will further urge that a specialist psychiatrist be head hunted, if necessary, from a facility such as Mthatha General, which has a 60 bed Mental Health Unit but has two specialist psychiatrists based there.

Mental Health challenges have increased substantially in the past few years but the Department of Health has not extended its services to absorb the demand. The Democratic Alliance will continue to advocate for the expansion of mental health facilities to all districts in the province, so that the most vulnerable members of our society are treated with the compassion and specialised care they require.

Issued by Jane Cowley, MPL - Enoch Mgijima Constituency Leader