NGOs hit back in deaths row

NGOs have lashed out at the report on the Esidimeni tragedy, with some going so far as labelling Esidimeni a “dead horse” for failing to look after patients who were transferred to their facilities.

Last week, the Health Ombudsman said that 94 psychiatric patients died after being transferred to 27 NGOs, which were not licensed to take care of mentally ill patients.

The Gauteng Health Department is holding talks with the families of the 94 patients who died after they were moved to unlicensed NGOs.

Debbie Griesel, owner of Annani Care Centre in Vereeniging, accused Esidimeni of being unco-operative and failing to provide them with medical records of patients and ignoring them when they inquired about them.

“Esidimeni was not prepared to provide us with the information about patients’ history, a referral letter from the social worker, or even patients’ district reports,” Griesler said.

Patients were transferred to her facility without prerequisites and were in a terrible condition.

Griesel said she runs two centres; one dedicated to trauma, molestation, and rape victims while the other focuses on the mentally handicapped.

“I have 30 patients who are still under my care, but only nine could be traced back to their families.

“Attempts were made to take fingerprints and trace their next kin in that manner but that didn’t bear any fruit,” she said.

Griesler criticised the report released by the Health Ombudsman, saying it painted a different picture.

“I am quite upset with the report because I was ready to receive patients. The Department of Health informed me that they would be bringing them in and gave us criteria to adhere to. I did. I fixed everything and they were satisfied about the work we did.”

Griesler disputed the report’s findings regarding not having operating licences, saying her NGO was registered two years ago.

However the head of the health department gave her the mental health licence on the day the patients were initially brought to the NGO.

She said patients were transferred to her in May.

“The department informed us of its plans to move patients here and I was able to acquire a licence in February and made sure that standards were adhered to,” she said.

The Cape Times sister newspaper, The Star, visited other centres in parts of Gauteng.

An employee at Kanana Care Centre in Vereeniging said they had to operate outside normal protocol to accommodate the number of patients they had.

The employee didn’t want to be named.