EC to close its dedicated frail care centres

IN THE wake of an extended stand-off over the fate of 239 frail care patients in Port Elizabeth, the department of social development indicated yesterday they would move away from dedicated frail care centres.

The announcement comes just days after a high court order forced the department to keep the only two fully state-funded centres in the city open, after it had earlier announced they would close at year-end, despite no alternative arrangements being communicated to families.

Department spokesman Lwazi Jiba said the department would be moving to a model where the frail and disabled were placed in homes with others who did not need specialised care.

He said this was how other provinces were operating and the Eastern Cape wanted to follow suit.

Jiba added, however, that the department was looking at appointing NGOs to look after patients as an interim solution for the next six months, until the department could find a solution to the problem.

The two frail care centres – Lorraine Frail Care and Algoa Frail Care – were due to close on December 31 after the department indicated they would not renew their contract with East Cape Frail Care, a company in the Life Healthcare Group.

Last week, however, the department agreed to a Port Elizabeth High Court order compelling the department to extend the contract until a proper hand-over of patients to a new service provider was carried out.

The court also ordered that advocate Sarah Sephton from the Legal Resources Centre in Grahamstown be appointed as the curator of each patient in the two frail care centres.

Jiba said the department believed it was providing a service to the current frail care patients that went beyond their constitutional mandate.

It has been asking the Department of Health to help it shoulder the financial burden.

Health spokesman Sizwe Kupelo, however, said their agreement was that they would provide medical services to frail care patients at the state hospitals and clinics, wheelchairs and hearing aids, but no personnel.

Jiba said Social Development would seek permission from the Eastern Cape Treasury to negotiate with NGOs who could take patients from the two frail care centres.

Maureen Andreka, the director of the Algoa Bay Council for the Aged, said she believed the department was unable to find another 240 frail care beds anywhere in the province.

“There are not 240-odd frail care beds lying vacant in the province. No funding is being made available to NGOs to create extra space and purchase extra equipment so I fail to see where 240 beds will materialise,” Andreka said.

“I know the NGOs who were asked to take patients are concerned as the service contracts we sign with the department are renewable annually and the department won’t commit to funding these residents for any extended period,” she said.

Robin Ownhouse, spokesman for the Frail Care Crisis Collective – the group of families who took the department to court and won – said the latest missive of the department sounded confusing.

“We are not sure what the department’s plans are. Based on the court outcome, the curator had to consult us and no resident may be moved without her [Sephton’s] consent,” he said. —